Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.3% to 40,074.87 after the central bank raised its benchmark rate to about 0.5% from 0.25%, as widely expected. It is the highest level for the rate since 2008, as the Bank of Japan shifts out of a long spell of extreme low interest rates meant to spur more borrowing and spending.

Asian stock markets turned in a choppy Friday after Japan's central bank tightened monetary policy, but US President Donald Trump delivered relatively positive commentary regarding China at the World Economic Forum meeting in Switzerland.

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In a widely anticipated move, the Bank of Japan on Jan. 24 raised its short-term policy rate to 0.50% from 0.25%. Read more here.

Wall Street stocks retreated Friday as the market's latest rally lost steam, while the yen pushed higher after the Bank of Japan lifted interest rates. In Japan, Tokyo's stock market dropped and the yen rallied after the Bank of Japan lifted borrowing costs to their highest level since 2008 and flagged further increases in the pipeline.

The Bank of Japan delivered a widely expected 25 basis point hike to its key lending rate on Friday, bringing the overnight call rate to the highest since 2008 and putting pressure on the dollar. The ICE Dollar Index slipped 0.

Wall Street is pointing slightly lower in early trading but is on track to close the week with solid gains on healthy quarterly earnings reports from large U.S. corporations.

Japan’s core inflation rate rose to a 16-month high at 3% in December, year on year, boosting the case for a rate hike from the Bank of Japan.

South Korea’s economy expanded 1.2% year on year in the fourth quarter, marking its slowest expansion since the second quarter of 2023.

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In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to rise, with the futures contract in Chicago up nearly 1%, last trading at 39,235 while its counterpart in Osaka is up 0.59%, last trading at 39,170 against the index's close of 38,902.50.

Offshore RMB activities experienced a setback, however, after the People’s Bank of China changed ... 50% of the firms listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and accounted for about 66% of ...