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Singapore - Japan’s stocks rose, leading Asia shares higher, as the Bank of Japan refrained from expanding its record stimulus programme.
US equity-index futures signaled gains, while the yuan advanced before International Monetary Fund discussions on its inclusion as a reserve currency.
The Topix index swung to a gain, helping the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rise toward its biggest monthly advance in six years. The yen extended its weekly rise against major peers as the BOJ adjudged current levels of stimulus appropriate.
The yuan climbed in both onshore and offshore trading. US equity- index futures were higher. West Texas Intermediate crude traded near $46 a barrel.
“It’s good they didn’t” add to easing, said Yoshinori Shigemi, a global market strategist in Tokyo at JPMorgan Asset Management.
“Ultimately, I think the yen-dollar rate depends on the US economy. Then it’ll be a weaker yen, weaker euro, stronger dollar and stronger yuan. It’s not desirable to repeat what we saw from the middle of last year.”
The yield on 10-year Japanese notes was little changed after jumping by as much as two basis points immediately after the BOJ decision, which comes against the backdrop of increased bets on the Federal Reserve raising interest rates by the end of the year.
The yen is little changed for the year, among the best performers versus the dollar in 2015 as other nation’s currencies have tumbled amid central bank efforts to boost growth.
Stocks
The MSCI Asia Pacific index added 0.4% at 08:29, heading for an 8.6% advance in the month, the most since May 2009. All 10 groups on the index have advanced this month, led by a measure of energy shares. Japan’s Topix index rose 0.7% as the yen fluctuated near 121 per dollar.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index fluctuated in Hong Kong. The so-called H-share index is the third-worst performing major gauge in the world this week, reversing a rally that had pushed it up as much as 16% since the end of September.
The index is still heading for a 10% gain in October. The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.4%.
Shares of companies that sell products for infants rallied after China formally scrapped its one-child policy. Pigeon, a Japanese company that gets about 76% of sales from child care goods, jumped 11%. Ausnutria Dairy, a Hong Kong-listed seller of infant formula, surged 3.6%.
The Kospi index in Seoul slipped 0.2%. The S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.5% in Sydney, falling for a fifth straight day. New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index dropped 0.3% from a record.
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures climbed 0.5% after the US benchmark gauge closed down less than 0.1% amid a selloff in small-cap shares. The MSCI All-Country World Index’s steepest monthly climb since 2011 has been trimmed this week as the prospect of a 2015 Fed rate increase hits emerging- market assets and commodities.
Currencies
The yen has lost almost 10% of its value versus the greenback in the year since the BOJ increased stimulus on October 31, with most of that move occurring before the end of 2014. The yen has the smallest drop among 16 major peers to the US dollar. Only the Swiss franc has gained this year.
The yuan climbed 0.5% in onshore trading, the biggest advance since March. The offshore-traded currency climbed 0.6%, taking its two-day move to 1.2%.
The yuan traded in Hong Kong closed its gap with the Shanghai rate on Friday, compared with a 0.7% discount a week ago, after suspected intervention. The IMF has expressed concern about the currency having two different rates and the People’s Bank of China has said that it wants a convergence.
“The catalyst for the move is hard to determine,” said Sue Trinh, HK-based senior currency strategist at Royal Bank of Canada. “There has been unsubstantiated market chatter of an imminent yuan exchange-rate policy announcement regarding some currency-reform measures.”
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude futures dropped for the first time in three days, slipping 0.7% to $45.75 a barrel. WTI pared its advance in the week to 2.6% and is up 1.5% in October. Brent lost 0.5% to $48.56 on Friday.
Output from Iraq, the second-biggest OPEC producer, is exceeding 4 million barrels a day, Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said, according to the Almada news website.
US crude stockpiles rose for a fifth week through October 23, keeping supplies more than 100 million barrels above the five-year seasonal average, government data showed Wednesday.
The Bloomberg Commodity Index was little changed after metals dragged the gauge lower for the sixth time in seven days on Thursday. It’s on track for a fourth straight monthly retreat.
Copper futures rallied on Friday, adding 0.2% to $5,141.50 per metric tonne on the London Metal Exchange, while gold for immediate delivery added 0.3% to $1 149.20 an ounce following a two-day slide.
