Asian stock markets mostly traded within narrow ranges on Thursday as investors awaited further updates on U.S. inflation and interest rates. Losses persisted in Japanese markets for a fourth consecutive session due to ongoing concerns regarding the Bank of Japan's policies.
Following a mixed performance on Wall Street, where investors reacted to stronger-than-anticipated consumer inflation data and took profits in tech stocks, U.S. futures remained stable during Asian trading hours. Attention now turns to forthcoming producer price index and retail sales figures.
The Nikkei 225 and TOPIX indices showed little movement on Thursday, with the Nikkei extending its recent losses. Profit-taking continued after both indexes reached record highs last week, driven by growing speculation that the Bank of Japan might adjust its negative interest rate and yield curve control policies as soon as its upcoming meeting.
Persistent inflation and rising wages suggest that Japanese inflation will likely remain above the BOJ's 2% target in the coming months, potentially leading to an interest rate hike. Such a move would mark the end of nearly ten years of loose monetary policy, which has contributed to significant gains in Japanese stocks over the past two years.
In broader Asian markets, sentiment remained subdued as a tech rally cooled off and attention shifted to upcoming loan data from China.
Chinese indices, including the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite, stayed near four-month highs but showed signs of a weakening rebound rally amid skepticism about the country's economic recovery, particularly after Beijing's modest growth target announcement for the year.
Paraphrasing text from "Investing" all rights reserved by the original author.
