Asia report: Shares close higher, yen slips as BoJ holds rates

Asian stocks finished higher on Friday on the back of corporate earnings, while the yen fell after the Bank of Japan kept rates unchanged and announced a broad review of monetary policy.

Japan's Nikkei finished 1.4% higher while the yen weakened 0.72% to 134.92 against the dollar after the BOJ kept its loose monetary settings unchanged in its first meeting under new Governor Kazuo Ueda. The ceiling for 10-year bond yields was held at 0.5% and the short-term policy rate at minus 0.1%

It also announced a "broad-perspective" review with a planned time frame of around one to one-and-a-half years. The central bank modified forward guidance by removing a pledge to keep interest rates at "current or lower levels."

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.36% to finish at 7,318.7, while the South Korean Kospi inched up 0.23% higher to close at 2,501.53 and the Kosdaq ended 0.87% lower at 842.83.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 0.42% to 19,933.5. In mainland China, the Shenzhen Component ticked up 1.08% to end at 11,338.67 and the Shanghai Composite rose 1.14% to close at 3,323.27.

In equity news, Japanese tech giant Sony posted a record annual operating profit of 1.21 trillion yen ($8.96bn) driven by its chip division and sales of its flagship PlayStation 5 gaming console, which hit a record for the financial year.

Net profit for the year stood at YEN 943.62bn up 6.21% year on year while revenue came in at YEN 11.54 trln against the previous year’s 9.92trln.

Sony previously forecast operating profit of YEN 1.18trln and YEN 11.5trln in revenue.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com