Asian Shares Rise, Traders Looking Ahead to BOJ: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Asian equities rose, following a rebound in technology stocks that pushed Wall Street to a record high. Investors also await Bank of Japan’s policy decision, where a hike is expected later Friday. 

A gauge of Asian stocks headed for its second week of gains, with benchmarks rising in Hong Kong, Sydney and Seoul. Japanese shares rose for a fifth day while the yen weakened slightly ahead of a key interest rate decision. Futures for the S&P 500 were steady after tech shares drove the gauge to the 6,100 milestone Thursday. 

Chinese stocks jumped after comments from US President Donald Trump that he would rather not have to use tariffs on China, in an interview with Fox News. The Chinese yuan and Australian dollar strengthened, while the greenback weakened.

Oil slid for a sixth day. Trump used an address to world leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland, to say he would ask Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations to “bring down the cost of oil,” casting the push for more crude output as a way to heighten pressure on Russia and help end the nearly three-year war in Ukraine. 

In other news, Bitcoin rose on Friday for the first time in three sessions, after Trump’s executive actions establishing a working group on digital assets fell short of expectations.

Traders will now turn their attention to the Bank of Japan, which is widely expected to raise its benchmark rate by 25 basis points, the most in 18 years. Governor Kazuo Ueda and his board will likely decide to increase the overnight call rate to 0.5% in a show of boosted confidence over the sustainability of inflation as Japan progresses down its normalization path. 

Japan’s key inflation gauge hit 3% for the first time in 16 months, underscoring the nation’s sustained price momentum.

“If the BOJ hikes today, there is a good chance that there is a dovish tone because there is still a high risk of economic and market disruptions from US policy,” Commonwealth Bank of Australia economist Kristina Clifton wrote in a note.

Back in the US, there’s some optimism Trump’s administration may be able to thread the needle in introducing measures that will boost growth and stocks, even while keeping a lid on prices pressures, which should allow the Federal Reserve to continue monetary easing this year.

The stock market is in a “calm before the storm mode” ahead of next week’s Fed decision press conference and the start of the big-tech earnings season, according to James Demmert at Main Street Research. “Both of which are likely to cause market volatility.”

In the corporate world, shares of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. fell after Japanese media reported that it won’t be a part of Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co.’s plans to combine their companies under a holding company.

Key events this week:

• Bank of Japan policy meeting, Friday
• Eurozone HCOB Manufacturing & Services PMI, Friday
• US University of Michigan consumer sentiment, existing home sales, S&P Global Manufacturing & Services PMI, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 11:23 a.m. Tokyo time
• Japan’s Topix rose 0.6%
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4%
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.3%
• The Shanghai Composite rose 0.3%
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.3%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
• The euro rose 0.2% to $1.0435
• The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 156.23 per dollar
• The offshore yuan rose 0.2% to 7.2696 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 0.1% to $103,282.51
• Ether rose 1.6% to $3,302.61

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.62%
• Japan’s 10-year yield was little changed at 1.210%
• Australia’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.47%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.2% to $74.47 a barrel
• Spot gold rose 0.5% to $2,769.82 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Matthew Burgess, Mia Glass and Jason Scott.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.