Stock market today: Asia shares rise amid Bank of Japan focus after the Fed stands pat
Associated PressTOKYO — Asian shares mostly rose Thursday, as investors turned their attention to what the Bank of Japan might decide on monetary policy later this week. The Bank of Japan is not expected to raise its benchmark rate when it wraps up its meeting on Friday, but the economy is under pressure from the dollar’s prolonged surge against the Japanese yen. “Given the recent ‘hawkish hold’ outcome from the Fed, if the BOJ were to stick to its usual accommodative tone in terms of policy settings, that may pave the way for the upward trend in the U.S. dollar to the Japanese yen to continue,” Yeap Jun Rong, a market analyst at IG, said in a commentary. For Wall Street, a slowdown in inflation not only helps U.S. households struggling to keep up with fast-rising prices, it also opens the door for the Federal Reserve to cut its main interest rate. Policymakers welcomed the latest update on inflation, but “we’ll need to see more good data to bolster our confidence,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said.