Investing.com - Shares in Tokyo eked out gains by the break as the central bank painted a mildly upbeat economic assessment and voted as expected to keep monetary policy steady, while elsewhere shares were higher to around flat ahead of remarks from the U.S. Federal Reserve chief later in the day.
However the vote saw continued dissent by Takahide Kiuchi who wants the BoJ to cut the level of purchases from ¥80 trillion annually set in October last year to about ¥45 trillion. The board however did say that private consumption domestically has been resilient and exports are picking up, though downside risks remain from weak growth in Europe.
The Nikkei 225 rose 0.02%, while the Hang Seng index shot up 1.42%, while the S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.03%.
BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda holds a news conference at 1530 (0630 GMT) to explain the board's decision.
Investors were turning their attention to Friday’s U.S. inflation data and a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen for fresh indications on how the economy is performing.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Telecoms and Technology sectors led shares higher.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.01%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.23%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.38%.
A string of downbeat U.S. data added to concerns over the strength of the economy.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending May 16 rose by 10,000 to 274,000 from the previous week's total of 264,000.
Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to rise by 7,000 to 271,000 last week.
Separately, the National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales fell 3.3% in April to 5.04 million units from the previous month's revised total of 5.21 million units. Analysts had expected existing home sales to rise 1.0% to 5.24 million units last month.
In addition, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index declined to 6.7 this month from a reading of 7.5 in April, confounding expectations for a rise to 8.0.
The data came after Wednesday’s minutes of the Fed’s April meeting did little to alter expectations that the central bank will hold off on raising rates until later this year, with most officials believing that a June rate hike would be premature.