Nikkei, Hang Seng Extend Gains As BoJ Keeps Rates Unchanged; Yen Fluctuates

Major Asian indices like the Japan's Nikkei and the Hong Kong's Hang Seng extended their gains buoyed by soft landing hopes in the US while the Japanese Yen fluctuated after its central bank kept the key rates unchanged.

Japanese stocks led the rise after the Bank of Japan maintained the status quo on its policy decision. Equity futures for Japan, Australia and Hong Kong all climbed on Friday.

The South Korean Kospi was up 0.77% at 2,600, while Nikkei was up 2.1% at 37,935 as of 8:43 a.m.

Bank of Japan kept its overnight call rate at 0.25% while it expected the underlying inflation to increase gradually. The economy is likely to keep growing above the potential growth rate and the impact of market moves on the economy and inflation needs to be monitored, the policy board of BoJ said.

Japan's August core consumer prices rose 2.8% year-on-year.

Positive sentiments for the region came after the latest jobs data in the US support the Fed's hopes on soft landing. US weekly jobless claims fell to 2.19 lakh in September which is below the estimated 2.30 lakh.

Meanwhile, traders are also awaiting loan prime rates in China, which is likely to remain unchanged for a second straight month, after a 10-basis point cut in July.

Elsewhere, Bank of England on Thursday said that it will not rush into easing policy while deciding against a second consecutive cut in its key policy rates.

Wall Street ended the day with record highs as traders wagered that the Fed will be able to boost the economic growth after it lowed rates by 50 basis points. The S&P 500 notched its 39th record this year, extending gains to about 20%, according to Bloomberg.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.70% and 2.51%, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 1.26%.

Crude oil prices are on track for their biggest weekly advance since February. Brent crude was trading 0.42% lower at $74.70 a barrel as of 8:52 a.m. IST. West Texas Intermediate was up 0.08% at 72.01.

• US Dollar Index at 100.6

• US 10-year bond yield at 3.71%.

• Brent crude down 0.24 at $74.70 per barrel.

• Bitcoin was down 0.42% at $62,778.18

• Gold spot was up 0.21% at $2,592.28.