Asian stocks rise, Nikkei flat as BOJ stays dovish; China rout pauses
Investing.com-- Most Asian stocks advanced on Tuesday, taking a positive lead-in from Wall Street after gains in tech spurred record highs in U.S. indexes, while the Bank of Japan maintained its ultra-dovish stance and forecast cooling inflation.
Chinese markets somewhat paused recent losses, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rebounded from 15-month lows on media reports that the government was planning to mobilize more measures to support local stock markets.
But mainland Chinese indexes remained at multi-year lows, especially as sentiment towards the country was battered by signs of persistent economic weakness.
Broader Asian markets rose on a positive lead-in from Wall Street, as the technology sector remained supported by continued hype over artificial intelligence. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both hit record highs on Monday.
A slew of major U.S. quarterly earnings were also on tap this week, including reports from Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX), Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC).
Japanese shares trimmed their intra-day gains on Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX index both trading sideways in afternoon trade. The two had surged to new 34-year highs earlier in the session.
Japanese markets were hit with some profit-taking, having risen sharply in the lead-up to Tuesday's BOJ meeting.
The BOJ kept its ultra-dovish policy unchanged, citing increased uncertainty over the Japanese economy. But the bank also trimmed its consumer price index inflation forecast for fiscal 2024- a scenario that bodes well for the Japanese economy.
Softer inflation gives the BOJ little impetus to begin tightening policy, with the central bank also offering scant cues on any such plans on Tuesday. An
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