Bangkok: Asian shares logged moderate gains on Friday after Wall Street benchmarks swept higher, extending their longest rally in a year and a half.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index closed at a 33-year high, advancing 0.7% to 33,706.08 after the Bank of Japan wrapped up a policy meeting by keeping its ultra-lax monetary stance unchanged, as expected. It is a standout among central banks, most of which have sought to rein in inflation by raising interest rates.
The key Japanese rate has stayed at minus 0.1% for a decade and policymakers have indicated they are not convinced that current inflation, which finally has surpassed the BOJ’s target of about 2%, will be sustained.
Share prices in Japan have been trading around their highest level in more than 30 years, while the Japanese yen has weakened against the dollar and other major currencies — reflecting the gap in interest rates in Japan and elsewhere. The dollar rose to 140.79 yen from 140.29 yen late Thursday.
In other Asian trading, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 1.3% to 20,088.78 and the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.6% at 3,272.67. In Seoul, the Kospi advanced 0.6% to 2,623.97. Bangkok’s SET was flat and India’s Sensex was up 0.4%.
In other trading Friday, U.S. benchmark crude oil added 13 cents to $70.75 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It surged $2.35 on Thursday to $70.62 per barrel.
Brent crude, the international standard, was up 17 cents at $75.84 per barrel.
The euro rose to $1.0950 from $1.0946.