Asian markets settle mostly higher on Friday

20 Sep 2024 Evaluate
Asian markets settled mostly higher on Friday as investors were continuing to cheer the Federal Reserve’s Wednesday decision to lower interest rates by a half percentage point and digesting the policy moves of the Bank of Japan and the Chinese central bank. Japanese shares gained after the nation's key inflation data in August accelerated for a fourth consecutive month. The core consumer price index in Japan increased by 2.8% year-on-year in August, exceeding the central bank’s 2% target. As widely expected, the Bank of Japan maintained its key short-term interest rates steady at 0.25%. While the Japanese yen eased after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda tempered expectations about another possible interest rate hike within the year. Chinese shares end flat as China refrained from further monetary stimulus as the central bank left its main benchmark lending rates unchanged. 

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

2,736.81

0.79

0.03

Hang Seng

18,258.57

245.41

1.34

Jakarta Composite

7,743.00

-162.39

-2.10

KLSE Composite

1,668.82

3.17

0.19

Nikkei 225

37,723.91

568.58

1.51

Straits Times

3,624.76

-8.42

-0.23

KOSPI Composite

2,593.37

12.57

0.48

Taiwan Weighted

22,159.42

116.73

0.53

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