Kazuo Ueda, governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ).
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets fell Tuesday ahead of central bank monetary policy decisions from the Bank of Japan and the Reserve Bank of Australia.
All eyes will be on the BOJ amid expectations that the central bank could end its negative interest rate policy after 17 years.
Economists polled by Reuters expect the central bank to raise its rates to 0% from the current -0.1%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 opened 0.5% lower, still below the 40,000 level. The broader Topix traded near the flat line.
Separately, the RBA is forecast to hold its benchmark interest rate at 4.35% for its third meeting in a row.
The S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1% higher.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.8%, while the small-cap Kosdaq inched 0.4% down.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 16,680, also pointing to a weaker open compared with the HSI’s close of 16,737.12.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes rebounded as tech companies gained, while investors awaited monetary policy guidance from the Federal Reserve.
Nvidia shares rose 0.7% on the first day of the company’s GTC Conference — where the chipmaker is expected to showcase its latest inroads in artificial intelligence. Shares of Alphabet ended 4.6% higher after Bloomberg News reported that Apple was in talks with Google to include the company’s Gemini AI in iPhones.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.63%. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.82%.
— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Brian Evans contributed to this report
Source link: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/19/asia-markets-live-updates.html