Asian indexes closed higher on Thursday as investors digested news out of the Bank of Japan and awaited a decision from the European Central Bank.
The Nikkei 225 hiked 123.73 points, or 0.6%, to 20,144.59
The Hang Seng Index took on 68.05 points, or 0.3%, to 26,740.21, running its win streak to five straight sessions
In Japan, the BOJ kept monetary policy steady on Thursday as a two-day meeting concluded. The central bank also cut its inflation forecasts for fiscal years 2017/2018 and 2018/2019.
The U.S. dollar extended gains against the yen on the news. Against the yen, the dollar last traded at 112.11 after trading as low as 111.75 earlier in the session.
This also followed the release of better-than-expected Japan trade data for the month of June earlier in the session. Japan exports in the month of June rose 9.7% on year compared to the 9.5% forecast. Imports rose 15.5% compared to the 14.6% projected.
Australian stocks were driven by the 1.25% gain in the heavily-weighted financials sub-index, but partially offset by declines in the consumer discretionary sub-index.
Meanwhile, Australian jobs data for the month of June reflected that employment rose by 14,000 compared to the 15,000 expected. The June participation rate stood at 65%, a tad higher than the 64.9% forecast in an economists’ poll.
The Australian dollar rose to a fresh two-year high on the back of the news although it later pared back those gains. The Aussie dollar touched as high as $0.7989 U.S. following the news compared to the $0.7949 seen at the end of the last session. The Aussie dollar traded at $0.7923 by late afternoon.
In individual stocks, shares of Bellamy's Australia fell 12% following the suspension of the import license of the company's infant formula in China, media reports said. Bellamy's shares closed the session off their session lows and down just 5%. Shares of the company had just resumed trade Thursday after being suspended for almost two weeks.
Property developer Sunac surged 15.1% late afternoon, following news that Dalian Wanda had brought on a second buyer, R&F Properties, in its sale of $9.3 billion U.S. worth of assets. Sunac and Wanda had originally been the only two parties involved in the deal. Wanda Hotel Development rose 7.8% and R&F Properties shares were up 7.4%.
Shares of Singapore telco M1 were down 2.3% after falling almost 9% in the previous session.
DBS Group Research analyst Sachin Mittal downgraded the company's shares to "fully valued" from "buy" in a July 19 note. Mittal attributed the downgrade to higher-than-expected operating costs and the decision taken by M1's major shareholders to drop plans to review their stakes in the telco.
In other markets
The CSI 300 jumped 18.13 points, or 0.5%, to 3,747.88
In Taiwan, the Taiex index eased 6.74 points, or 0.1%, to 10,499.36
In Korea, the Kospi index gained 11.9 points, or 0.5%, to 2,441.84
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index settled 31.94 points, or 1%, to 3,293.13
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 lost 60.3 points, or 0.8%, to 7,672.44
In Australia, the ASX 200 added 29.33 points, or 0.5%, to 5,761.45
