By John Phillips, Wei-Zhe Tan and Lillian Ying
Asian markets were down Thursday tracking a negative lead from
Wall Street, though the Tokyo market bounded back into positive
territory after the Bank of Japan's announcement of additional
easing measures.
As the first meeting under newly appointed Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda
concluded, the Bank of Japan decided to launch an aggressive new
easing campaign.
The central bank pledged to achieve a 2% inflation target in
about two years, while taking additional easing action, such as
increasing Japanese government bond (JGB) holdings at an annual
pace of Yen50 trillion ($530 billion), with JGB holdings to double
in two years.
The bank will terminate its asset-purchase program, with asset
purchases to be absorbed with JGB purchases, under its new easing
scheme called "Quantitative and Qualitative Monetary Easing."
The Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.6%.
In foreign exchange markets, the yen weakened against the U.S.
dollar and the euro as investors welcomed the Bank of Japan's new
easing measures.
The greenback (USDJPY) rose to Yen94.31 versus Yen93.05 late
Wednesday in New York, while the euro (EURJPY) was at Yen120.99
from Yen119.51.
Major exporters recovered in Tokyo, with Nintendo (NTDOF) up
0.2% and Toyota Motor (TM) 0.9% higher.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (7011.TO) added 2.7% on a Nikkei
report that the company, along with France's Areva SA , has
clinched a joint contract to construct a nuclear power plant in
Turkey.
In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 came off earlier lows on the Bank
of Japan news and ended down 0.9%
Resources plays weighed on the Australian market amid commodity
price weakness including a decline in copper to an eight-month low
overnight. BHP Billiton (BHP) fell 1.5%, Newcrest Mining (NCMGF)
dropped 5.2% and Rio Tinto (RIO) lost 1.4%.
Investors were also focused on the European Central Bank's
policy decision due later Thursday, as well as Friday's U.S. jobs
data for trading cues.
South Korea's Kospi Composite fell 1.3% amid continued concerns
over North Korea's escalating military threats, while Singapore's
Straits Times Index was off 0.3%.
Markets in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were shut for
holidays.
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