Asia report: Markets higher as central banks stand pat

Markets in Asia were higher on Thursday, as uncertainties around key central bank decisions melted away for the moment, with both the Bank of Japan and the US Federal Reserve standing pat on rates on Wednesday.

Markets in Tokyo were closed on Thursday, as traders took a day away from the markets to observe the autumnal equinox.

The yen was relatively weaker against the greenback, and was last off 0.51% at JPY 100.83 per $1.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite managed a 0.56% gain to 3,042.68, while the Shenzhen Composite rose 0.62% to 2,018.16.

During the session, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told the United Nations that the People’s Republic was looking to open up the economy further to promote development.

He also pledged that the country’s politburo would not artificially devalue renminbi to help further exports.

South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.67% to close at 2,049.70, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index managed to finish 0.38% higher at 23,759.80.

Beleaguered shipping company Hanjin Shipping added 29.61% in Seoul, after reports emerged that the company’s primary creditor, Korea Development Bank, was considering a KRW 50bn loan to help unload stranded cargo.

There were suggestions from analysts that investors would now dive back into the markets now that the major decisions from Japan and the US had passed.

“The combination of these central bank decisions is likely to see equity markets remove some risk premium over coming days,” said CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner.

In the US, the Fed kept rates on hold, with the Federal Open Market Committee indicating confidence in economic growth - albeit not enough to move rates now.

They also reduced their projections for rate hikes in coming years, with two now expected in 2017 and three each in 2018 and 2019.

Tokyo’s Bank of Japan also kept rates steady, but did announce a raft of changes to how it approaches monetary policy, in a bid to kick-start prices in the stagnating economy.

Oil prices were ahead during Asian trading, with Brent crude last up 0.93% to $47.27 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate adding 1.03% to $45.81.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 finished up 0.65% at 5,374.50, with most subindexes finishing higher.

They weighty financials sector was flat, however, while the energy industry managed a 2.1% rise during the session.

The new governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Philip Lowe, made his first appearance on Thursday, telling a house committee in Canberra that the central bank is not full of “inflation nutters”.

He also said pushing inflation higher was not necessarily in the public interest, especially at the cost of worsening balance sheets in the private sector.

New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 added 0.42% to 7,311.71, as the Reserve Bank of New Zealand stood pat on interest rates, holding the country’s official cash rate at 2%.

The central bank did leave the prospect of further easing on the table, however, with the relatively strong New Zealand dollar and inflation below targets possibly pushing the bank to make moves in the future.

The down under dollars were mixed, with the Aussie last 0.51% ahead at AUD 1.3050 and the Kiwi 0.31% weaker at NZD 1.3643 per $1.