Shares in Japan have opened flat in Friday’s session, with investors remaining cautious, as the country’s central bank is at the tail end of its two-day meeting to discuss monetary policy.
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In a bid to support the government’s attempts to bolster Japan’s economy and prices amid mounting global uncertainty, the Bank of Japan strengthened its already aggressive monetary stimulus measures on Friday by expanding its asset purchasing program. It expanded its economic stimulus, but nowhere near as far as markets had been expecting.
Spot gold was up 0.4 per cent at $1,341.16 an ounce at 0430 GMT. France’s CAC 40 was 0.1 percent higher at 4,423.
The leading index of 300 European shares .FTEU3 rose 0.4 percent to 1,244 points, and Germany’s DAX GDAXI also rose 0.4 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.5 percent to 2,979.34 and South Korea’s Kospi slid 0.2 percent to 2,016.19. In Southeast Asia, the stock indices of Indonesia and Malaysia were up, but Singapore’s and Philippines’ were down.
Financial markets seemed underwhelmed by the central bank’s modest action.
Asian markets were mixed Friday after the Bank of Japan announced a modest expansion of its lavish monetary stimulus to perk up sluggish growth, sending the Japanese stock index up.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 14.41 points, or 0.08%, to 18,441.94.
The Chinese yuan CNYUSD, +0.0301% rose 0.1% versus the USA dollar, paring earlier gains, to reach 6.6515 from its official Thursday closing of 6.6566.
World equity markets were mostly higher, with the United States benchmark S&P 500 index hitting a record intraday high for the seventh time in July.
“We are bullish on the PGMs (platinum group metals) fundamentally but we are unclear as to whether or not fundamental motivations have been driving the current PGM rally”, HSBC analyst James Steel said in a note. The zero percent security due in August 2026 dropped 0.192, or 19.2 euros per 1,000-euro ($1,110) face amount, to 100.725. It was unchanged at 105.45 yen on Thursday.
Elsewhere in markets, oil prices fell to fresh three-month lows, with U.S. benchmark now down more than 20 percent from this year’s peak on growing worries that the world might be pumping more crude than needed. It fell 78 cents to close at $41.14 a barrel on Thursday.
Oil prices fell to their lowest levels since April, with Brent on track for its biggest monthly loss since December 2015, pressured by slowing economic growth that threatens to increase a supply overhang of crude and refined products.
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