Japanese stocks gained on Wednesday, driven higher as the yen fell and the Bank of Japan left its deposit rate unchanged at negative 0.1%. The central bank took additional steps to help stoke inflation, including a new plan to target 10-year interest rates, with a commitment to keep them around zero. The Nikkei 225 surged 1.8% to 16,792, while the yen fell to ¥102.65 compared with ¥101.74 late Tuesday in New York. Financial stocks led the gains amid relief that the central bank did not push deposit rates further into negative territory. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. each climbed over 7%. Markets are now awaiting a press conference from the Bank of Japan, expected at 2:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7%, the Shanghai Composite index inched up 0.2%, while the Hong Kong Hang Seng index rose 0.7%.
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From:: Stock Market News