Shares in the Asia-Pacific rose Wednesday as sentiment overnight improved over the Fed potentially turning less aggressive.
The Nikkei 225 leaped 181.56 points, or 0.7%, to 27,431.84.
The Bank of Japan increased the amount of Japanese government bonds it plans to buy as part of the day’s regular operations, according to an announcement on its website.
The central bank offered to purchase 150 billion yen ($1.01 billion U.S.) of JGBs with a maturity of more than 25 years, up from the planned 100 billion yen. For JGBs with a maturity of between 10-25 years, the bank offered to buy 350 billion yen worth, up from 250 billion yen, the offer notice said.
The BOJ offered to purchase 650 billion yen of JGBs with shorter term maturities of five to 10 years as well, compared with the original plan of 550 billion yen.
The Japanese yen continued weakening against the dollar, and last stood at 148.35.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng jumped 152.08 points, or 1%, to 15,317.67,
Tech stocks listed in Hong Kong popped in morning trade, supporting the broader Hang Seng index.
Meituan surged more than 8% in the morning before trading lower around 4% in its afternoon session. Tencent jumped around 5% before losing some of its gains to trade 2.5% higher. Sensetime also traded 4% higher.
Inflation in Australia accelerated to 7.3% in the third quarter from a year ago, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. That’s the fastest rate since December 1990, according to Eikon data.
Prices increased 6.1% in the second quarter, and analysts polled by Reuters expected prices to rise 7% this quarter.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 regained 29.45 points, or 0.8%, to 3,656.90.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission on Tuesday said it intends to expedite the development of a “regulated, transparent open, lively and resilient” market.
Chinese onshore and offshore yuan strengthened sharply against the dollar in Asia’s afternoon.
Onshore Chinese yuan strengthened to 7.1880 per U.S. dollar from hovering around 7.3 levels, while the offshore yuan last traded at 7.2150 against the greenback after trading above 7.25.
In other markets
In Taiwan, the Taiex recovered 62.93 points, or 0.5%, to 12,729.05.
In Korea, the Kospi index moved upward 14.49 points, or 0.7%, to 2,249.56.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index gained 24.23 points, or 0.8%, to 3,008.38.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 144.19 points, or 1.3%, to 11,046.50.
In Australia, the ASX 200 increased 12.25 points, 0.2%, to 6,810.87.
