Asia-Pacific markets slide towards the Bank of Japan's rate decision
Istanbul, July 30 (Hibya) - Asia-Pacific markets fell on Tuesday as the Bank of Japan kicked off its two-day monetary policy meeting. When the meeting concludes Wednesday, the BOJ is expected to raise its benchmark interest rate and trim its Japanese government bond purchases.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 0.7 percent, while the broad-based Topix was down 0.65 percent. Economists expect the BOJ to increase its benchmark interest rate to 0.1 percent, up from the current range of 0 percent to 0.1 percent.
South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.9 percent, while the small-cap Kosdaq saw a smaller loss of 0.7 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.92 percent.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index lost 0.8 percent, while mainland China’s CSI 300 slipped marginally, extending its losses after closing at its lowest level in almost six months on Monday.
In the U.S., the three major indexes ended mixed, with the S&P 500 marginally higher as Wall Street geared up for a busy week of corporate earnings and looked ahead to a key policy announcement from the U.S. central bank.
Economists don’t expect the Fed to make any changes to the federal funds rate during this meeting, but traders will look for clues on whether the central bank will cut rates in September. The broad market index gained 0.08 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.07 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.12 percent.
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