Asia stocks higher; Nikkei ends up 0.5% after BoJ, GDP data

Investing.com - Asian stock markets were higher during late Asian trade on Thursday, with shares in Japan rising after the Bank of Japan kept its monetary policy unchanged and raised its assessment of the economy.

Market players remained cautious ahead of a meeting of Group-of-20 finance ministers in Moscow later in the week, which was likely to feature discussions on competitive currency devaluation.

During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.8%, Australia’s ASX/200 Index settled 0.7% higher, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index ended up 0.5%.

Midway through the session, the BoJ said it decided to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged and made no changes to the size of its asset-purchase program, citing an improving domestic economy.

In a statement accompanying the policy decision, the Bank of Japan said, “Japan’s economy appears to stop weakening. Exports continue to decrease, but the pace of decrease has been moderating.”

The statement came after preliminary data showed that Japan’s economy shrank by 0.1% in the fourth quarter. On an annualized basis, the country’s gross domestic product fell 0.4% in the three months ended December 31.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei ended higher as investors digested the news, as well as a number of strong corporate earnings reports.

Asahi Group Holdings saw shares rally 5.8% after the brewer posted a record fiscal-year profit and said it would buy back shares.

Shares in Yokohama Rubber jumped 12.3%after saying its fiscal-year net profit more than doubled toJPY32.6 billion.

Elsewhere, in Australia, the benchmark ASX/200 Index ended at the highest level since September 2008, as confidence grows that the global economy is healing and a year-long run of interest-rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia is fueling a domestic recovery.

Shares in Rio Tinto 2.3% as investors positioned themselves in the stock ahead of the global miner’s earnings report later in the day.

Also contributing to gains, Alumina saw shares rally 7.5% after Citic Resources said it will take a 13% stake in the firm for AUD452.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was higher as trading resumed for the first time this week after the Chinese New Year holidays. Markets in mainland China will be closed for the remainder of week.

The China banking sector were among the biggest gainers on the index, with China Construction Bank shares rising 2% and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China advancing 2.3%.
 
Index heavyweight HSBC Holdings saw shares climb 1.3%. Shares of HSBC command a 15% weighting on the Hong Kong benchmark, making it the single largest constituent on the index.

Looking ahead, European stock market futures pointed to a lower open, after official data showed larger-than-forecast contractions in German and French fourth quarter economic growth.

The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a loss of 0.3% at the open, France’s CAC 40 futures fell 0.25%, London’s FTSE 100 futures pointed to a loss of 0.2%, while Germany's DAX futures pointed to a fall of 0.2%.   

Germany’s economy, the euro zone’s largest, contracted by 0.6% in the in the fourth quarter, worse than expectations for a 0.5% fall, after a 0.2% expansion in the three months to September.

France’s economy also contracted more than forecast, with gross domestic product falling by 0.3%, from 0.1% growth in the third quarter. Economists had forecast a contraction of 0.2% in the fourth quarter.

The euro zone was to release preliminary data on fourth quarter growth later in the session.