Bank of Japan, PBOC, Japan CPI, Fed rate cut

Asia-Pacific markets were higher Friday with Japan’s Nikkei 225 leading gains, after Wall Street soared overnight following the Federal Reserve’s outsized rate cut.

The Bank of Japan kept its benchmark interest rate steady at around 0.25% — the highest rate since 2008 — at the conclusion of a two-day meeting Friday. 

Japan’s core consumer price index climbed 2.8% year on year, in line with Reuters estimates, versus a 2.7% rise in the previous month. Excluding fresh food and energy, inflation came in at 2%, versus 1.9% in the previous month.

The Japanese yen firmed 0.30% against the greenback to 142.20.

China also did not tinker with its key lending rates, with the one-year loan prime rate — which affects corporate and household loans — at 3.35% and the five-year LPR — a reference for mortgage rates — at 3.85%. 

Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 1.53% to close at 37,723.91, logging weekly gains of over 3%.

The broad-cased Topix gained 0.97% to 2,642.35.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 1.27% as of its final hour of trade.

Mainland China’s CSI 300 edged 0.16% higher to 3,201.05, wrapping up the week with gains of 1.3% after hitting its lowest level since January 2019 last Friday.

South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.49% to finish at 2,593.37 and the small-cap Kosdaq rose 1.19% to 748.33.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.21% to end at 8,209.5.

Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes ended higher with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.26% to close at 42,025.19, crossing the 42,000 threshold for the first time.

The S&P 500 added 1.7% to end at 5,713.64, topping 5,700 for the first time.

The Nasdaq Composite surged 2.51% to finish at 18,013.98.

The three major averages are on pace for weekly gains, with the S&P 500 up nearly 1.6% through Thursday’s close. The Dow is toting a 1.5% jump on the week, while the Nasdaq is outperforming with a 1.9% advance.

—CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.