* MSCI ex-Japan step back from record highs on profit booking. * Sentiment hit by China coronavirus restrictions. * Analysts expect Friday's share losses to be short-lived. * Oil, gold weaker. By Swati Pandey. Asian shares slipped off record highs on Friday as investors took profits after a recent rally that was driven by hopes of U.S. economic stimulus by newly inaugurated President Joe Biden.
* MSCI ex-Japan step back from record highs on profit booking. * Analysts expect Friday's share losses to be short-lived. * Oil, gold weaker. By Swati Pandey. Asian shares slipped off record highs on Friday as investors took profits after a recent rally that was driven by hopes of U.S. economic stimulus by newly inaugurated President Joe Biden.
Japanese shares retreated from a 30-year peak on Friday, as investors refrained from placing big bets ahead of the corporate earnings season while some locked in profit after the recent rally in global equities.
* MSCI ex-Japan tad weaker after hitting record highs on Thursday. * U.S. dollar bounces off lows but set for weekly decline. * Oil, gold weaker. By Swati Pandey.
The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady on Thursday and revised up its economic forecast for the next fiscal year, signalling that it has delivered sufficient stimulus for now to cushion the blow from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Japanese shares hit their highest close in 30 years, taking cues from solid overnight performances on Wall Street, on investor optimism over upbeat corporate earnings and that new U.S. administration's massive stimulus package will bolster growth.
Japanese government bond yields fell on Thursday after the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady but warned of escalating risks to the economic outlook as new state of emergency measures rolled out this month hit consumption. The BOJ maintained its policy targets under yield curve control - minus 0.1% for short-term rates and around 0% for 10-year bond yields - at its policy meeting.
The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady on Thursday and revised up its economic forecast for next fiscal year, signalling that it has delivered sufficient stimulus for now to cushion the blow from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Japanese shares advanced, tracking U.S. stocks which rose to record highs as Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th U.S. president, while sentiment was also buoyed on hopes for better Japanese corporate earnings.
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