Stocks were mixed in Asia on Tuesday after the Bank of Japan raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time in 17 years, ending a long-running negative rate policy that contrasted with the stances of most central banks.
In a widely expected move, the Bank of Japan raised its overnight interest rate to a range of 0 to 0.1%, up from -0.1%.
He said wage increases and other indicators suggested inflation had stabilized above the BOJ's 2% target, but noted "extremely high uncertainties", including weakness in industrial production, exports, housing investment and the government expenditure.
The market reaction was muted.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.7% to 40,003.60, while the dollar rose to 150.35 Japanese yen from 149.14 yen.
Chinese markets fell. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 1.2% to 16,526.98, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.7% to 3,064.56.
In Seoul, the Kospi fell 1.1% to 2,656.17.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.4% to 7,703.20 after Australia's central bank held its benchmark interest rate steady at 4.35% for the third straight meeting. The widely expected decision reflected the fact that inflation is cooling but is still above the Reserve Bank of Australia's target.
U.S. stocks rose on Monday ahead of a busy week for central banks around the world.
This week's highlight for Wall Street will likely be the The Federal Reserve meeting on interest rates, which ends on Wednesday. The central bank is widely expected to keep its main interest rate stable at its highest level since 2001.
But Fed officials will also give updated forecasts on where they see interest rates heading this year and over the long term. They had previously forecast three rate cuts this year, which would ease pressure on the economy and financial system.
Recent reports in inflation have consequently been entering worse than expected, although. That could force the Federal Reserve to scale back the number of rate cuts it plans to make this year.
Such a move would be a big disappointment for investors.
Across the Atlantic, the Bank of England will announce its latest interest rate decision later this week.
The S&P 500 added 0.6% on Monday to 5,149.42, following its first consecutive weekly losses since October.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% to 38,790.43 and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.8% to 16,103.45. The smallest stocks in the Russell 2000 index fell 0.7%.
On Wall Street, Nvidia rose 0.7% after paring a larger earlier gain as it kicked off its annual developer conference.
A frenzy around artificial intelligence technology on Wall Street has sent shares of Nvidia and other players soaring so much that critics are calling it a bubble. Nvidia has become the third largest stock in the US stock market.
Other Big Tech stocks also pushed the S&P 500 higher to snap a three-day losing streak, its longest in more than two months. Alphabet rallied 4.6% and Tesla jumped 6.3% to trim its year-to-date losses.
On the losing side was Hertz Global Holdings, which fell 6.2% to bring its year-to-date loss to 31.6%. Its president and CEO, Stephen Scherr, will resign at the end of March. The company named Wayne โGilโ West as its CEO. He is a former executive at Cruise, the autonomous vehicle company, and Delta Air Lines.
Boeing sank another 1.5% to bring its annual loss to 31%. It has been struggling with concerns about its manufacturing quality and its latest negative headline. came on friday. Workers found a panel missing from an older Boeing 737-800 after it arrived at its destination in southern Oregon from San Francisco.
In other trading early Tuesday, benchmark U.S. crude oil lost 21 cents to $81.95 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 23 cents to $86.55 a barrel.
The euro fell to $1.0869 from $1.0872.
