Asia stocks mixed; Nikkei rallies 1.6% after BoJ meeting

Investing.com - Asian stock markets outside Japan were mostly lower during late Asian trade on Wednesday, as investors remained cautious ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s testimony at the U.S. Joint Economic Committee later in the day.

Shares in Japan soared to a fresh five-and-a-half-year high after the Bank of Japan made no changes to its aggressive monetary easing policy at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting.

During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.6%, Australia’s ASX/200 Index ended 0.3% lower, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rallied 1.6%.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei rallied sharply to the highest level since December 2007 after the BoJ upgraded its view of the domestic economy.

The BOJ also affirmed plans to increase the monetary base at an annual pace of about JPY60 trillion to JPY70 trillion. The central bank said the measures would continue “as long as it is necessary” to achieve its goal of a stable inflation rate of 2%.

Japanese megabanks were mostly higher, with shares in the nation’s largest lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group rising 1.3%, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group added 0.6%.

Sony saw shares surge 6% after a Kyodo News reports said the electronics maker was considering a proposal to spin off its movie and music business.

Meanwhile, in Australia, the benchmark ASX/200 Index inched lower following the release of downbeat consumer sentiment data.

The big four banks all fell, with Australia's biggest lender, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia down 1%, while ANZ Banking Group and National Australia Bank lost 3.4% and 1.1% respectively.

Elsewhere, in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng moved further away from a three-month high hit earlier in the week as investors looked ahead to the release of key manufacturing data out of China on Thursday.

The morning trading session was canceled due to a rain storm in Hong Kong.

Index heavyweight HSBC Holdings saw shares slump 1.7%. 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 modestly lower open.

The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a loss of 0.2% at the open, France’s CAC 40 futures dipped 0.1%, London’s FTSE 100 futures eased down 0.1%, while Germany's DAX futures pointed to a flat open.  

Investors looked ahead to Fed Chairman Bernanke’s testimony as well as the release of the minutes of the Fed’s most recent policy meeting, both due later in the day.