The Japanese yen strengthened sharply against the dollar and Nikkei shares tumbled on Thursday after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) kept monetary policy steady, in line with expectations.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 plummeted 485.44 points, or 3.1%, to 15,434.14, compared with a 1.1% decline before the BOJ decision.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index slumped 429.10 points, or 2.1%, to 20,038.42
Spot gold traded up 1.4% at $1,309.55 U.S. an ounce, following the U.S. Federal Reserve decision to stand pat for now on interest rates, nd weakness in the U.S. dollar. Gold miners in the region were up sharply, with Newcrest adding 2.9% and Evolution Mining up 4.7%.
In company news, shares of Australia's Crown Resorts soared 13.2% after the company announced plans for a de-merger of its Australian and international investments.
Ratings agency Standard & Poor's cut commodities trader Noble Group's credit rating deeper into junk status on Wednesday. Noble's long-term corporate credit rating was downgraded to B+ from BB-.
Noble Group shares were down 2.2% at 0.225 Singapore dollars, off an earlier high of 0.230.
The U.S. dollar/yen currency pair traded at 103.74, compared with levels as high as 106.02 before the policy announcement. The yen also strengthened against the major crosses, with the euro/yen pair down 1.9% at 117.10, the Aussie/yen pair down 2.8% at 76.35, while the yen/won pair was up 2.6% at 11.29.
In its policy statement, the BOJ said risks to the economic outlook include uncertainties in emerging and commodity-exporting economies, particularly China, impact of monetary policy response from the U.S. on global financial markets, prospects regarding Europe's debt problem and economic activity, as well as geopolitical risks.
CHINA
The Shanghai CSI 300 moved lower 21.7 points, or 0.7%, to 3,094.67,
The onshore Chinese yuan traded at 6.5812 against the U.S. dollar, after the People's Bank of China set the yuan mid-point at 6.5739 on
Thursday. China's central bank lets the yuan spot rate rise or fall a maximum of 2% against the dollar, relative to the official fixing rate.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi slid 16.84 points, or 0.9%, to 1,951.99
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index fell 22.69 points, or 0.8%, to 2,751.56
In Taiwan, the Taiex index slid 112.23 points, or 1.3%, to 8,494.14
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 19.02 points, or 0.3%, to 6,888.57
The ASX 200 dropped 1.07 points to 5,145.98
