Stock market today: Asian shares mostly lower as Bank of Japan meets, China property shares fall
ABC News
Asian shares are mostly lower, while U.S. futures and oil prices edged higher
BANGKOK -- Asian shares were mostly lower on Monday as the Bank of Japan began a 2-day meeting that is being watched for hints of a change to the central bank’s longstanding near-zero interest rate policy.
U.S. futures and oil prices gained.
Investors have been speculating for months that rising prices would push Japan's central bank to finally shift away from its lavishly lax monetary policy. But the meeting that ends Tuesday is not expected to result in a major change.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index lost 0.8% to 32,708.35, while the U.S. dollar edged higher against the Japanese yen, rising to 142.20 from 142.11.
The BOJ has kept its benchmark rate at minus 0.1% for a decade, hoping to goose investments and borrowing to help drive sustained strong growth. One aim is to get inflation to a target of 2%. But while inflation has risen, wages have failed to keep up, and central bank Gov. Kazuo Ueda has remained cautious about major moves at a time of deep uncertainty about the outlook for the global economy.
