Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda arrives to conduct an interview with a small group of journalists in Tokyo on May 25, 2023.
Richard A. Brooks | AFP | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets largely fell as the Bank of Japan’s holds its benchmark policy rate at -0.1%, in line with expectations from economists.
Japan’s central bank adjusted its stance on its yield curve control policy, saying that it will continue to allow 10-year government bond yields to fluctuate in the range of around plus and minus 0.5%.
However, it will “conduct yield curve control with greater flexibility, regarding the upper and lower bounds the range as references, not as rigid limits, in its market operations.”
The Nikkei 225 tumbled 1.33%, while the Topix saw a smaller loss of 1.03%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.03% as the country’s retail sales fell 0.8% year on year in June, lower than expectations in a Reuters poll that the retail sales figure will remain unchanged from a year ago.
South Korea’s markets were more mixed, with the Kospi down marginally and the Kosdaq up 2.06%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index bucked the trend and climbed 0.55%, while the Shanghai Composite was down 0.54% and the Shenzhen Component inched down 0.87%.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes slid, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 0.67% and snapping its 13-day winning streak.
Should the Dow have recorded a 14th straight day of gains, the index would have tied its record winning streak going way back to 1897.
Separately, the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.55%, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.64%.
— CNBC’s Sarah Min and Samantha Subin contributed to this report