The European and US markets ended slightly lower and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion. Under the new policy, all couples would be allowed to have two children, according to a communique released by the state-run Xinhua news agency.
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The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong dipped 0.50 per cent, or 114.94 points, to 22,705.00.
The Bank of Japan’s decision Friday to keep its monetary policy unchanged demonstrates why: Hopes for more easing could easily disappoint if policy makers don’t deliver.
The Nikkei Stock Average closed out the month with gains of 10%, its best monthly performance since April 2013. For the week, the index advanced 1.4 percent. The Properties sub-index dropped the most at 1.2 percent, followed by the Utilities at 1.07 percent, the Finance at 0.57 percent, the Commerce & Industry at 0.39 percent. Shionogi & Co. soared 11.4 percent after the pharmaceutical firm said it would launch the world’s first one-day treatment for influenza in Japan as early as 2018.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.3 percent to 848.26 at 8:04 a.m.in London, halting a four-day loss. Speculation that the Fed’s near-zero borrowing costs would be kept low for longer had spurred a rally of as much as 9.7 percent this month in the developing-nation stock gauge.
Australian shares fell for a fifth consecutive session, led by losses in banking and resource stocks.
Refining giant Sinopec also dropped 1.2 per cent to HK$5.55 in Hong Kong after its net income retreated 92 per cent year on year in the third quarter, also missing forecasts by a wide margin. China Construction Bank fell 0.88 percent to 5.63 HK dollars.
The Shanghai Composite is down 0.6% this week, set to snap three weeks of gains, even after the People’s Bank of China cut interest rates last Friday for the sixth time since November. Investment bank Macquarie Group rallied 2 percent after posting a record interim profit.
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Miners Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton lost 1-2 percent.
