Stock market today: Asian shares track Wall Street rally, Tokyo’s benchmark at 33-year high

Bangkok, June 16 (BNA): Asian shares posted moderate gains on Friday after they swept Wall Street indexes higher, extending their longest rally in a year and a half.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo closed at a 33-year high, up 0.7% at 33,706.08 after the Bank of Japan ended its policy meeting by keeping its ultra-loose monetary stance unchanged, as expected. It stands out among central banks, most of which have sought to rein in inflation by raising interest rates.

Japan’s key rate has stayed at minus 0.1% for a decade, and policymakers have indicated they are not convinced that current inflation, which finally topped the Bank of Japan’s target of around 2%, will continue, according to the Associated Press.

Stock prices in Japan traded around their highest level in more than 30 years, while the Japanese yen weakened against the dollar and other major currencies – reflecting the gap in interest rates in Japan and elsewhere. The dollar rose to 140.79 yen from 140.29 yen Thursday evening.

In other Asian trading, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.3% to 20,088.78 and the Shanghai Composite climbed 0.6% to 3,272.67. In Seoul, the Kospi Index advanced 0.6%, to 2,623.97. Bangkok’s SET was flat and India’s Sensex rose 0.4%.

In other trading on Friday, US benchmark crude oil added 13 cents to $70.75 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose $2.35 on Thursday to $70.62 a barrel.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 17 cents to $75.84 a barrel.

The euro rose to $1.0950 from $1.0946.

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