Asian stocks close mixed, after Japan’s central bank maintains interest rates and waiting for the ECB

Asian stock markets closed without a single direction this Thursday (21), after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) once again left its monetary policy unchanged and waiting for the European Central Bank (ECB) to announce its first rate hike in over a decade.

Japan’s Nikkei index rose 0.44% in Tokyo to 27,803.00 points, while South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.93% in Seoul, at 2,409.16 points, and Taiex gained 1.39% in Taiwan, at 14,937.70 points.

On the other hand, mainland Chinese markets were in the red: the Shanghai Composite was down 0.99% to 3,272.00 points, and the less comprehensive Shenzhen Composite was down 0.75% to 2,193.81 points. The day was also a day of losses in Hong Kong, with Hang Seng falling 1.51% to 20,574.63 points.

As expected, the BoJ has kept the features of its ultra-accommodative monetary policy untouched, although the jump in global inflation is pushing central banks in much of the world to raise interest rates.

BoJ Chairman Haruhiko Kuroda reiterated that he would not hesitate to relax policy further if necessary, and said that small interest rate hikes were unlikely to stem the yen’s downward trend, which in recent weeks has renewed lows since 1998 against the yen. dollar.

In the opposite direction of the BoJ, the ECB is expected to raise its base rates today for the first time in 11 years, to contain the euro zone’s record inflation and following a movement of rate adjustment that, in the United Kingdom, began at the end of last year. , and in the US in March.

In Oceania, the Australian stock exchange gained on Thursday, with the help of stocks in the financial and health sectors. The S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.52% in Sydney at 6,794.30 points.

With information from Dow Jones Newswires