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Asian stocks higher, Nikkei drops

Nikkei

Hang Seng advanced 1.1% to 20,720.60, the Shanghai Composite added 0.8% to 3,307.14, Kospi jumped 0.3% to 2,590.30, S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.1% to 8,216.50 and Taiex rose 0.3%

Asian stocks were higher Friday aside from in Japan, where investors were awaiting the outcome of an election on Sunday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who took office just weeks ago, called the snap general election to drum up support as the ruling Liberal Democrats grapple with a political funding scandal. Recent upheavals have added to uncertainty for markets, complicating the BoJ’s efforts to shift away from long-standing near-zero interest rates.

Core inflation in Japan’s capital was 1.8% in October, lower than the central bank’s 2% target for the first time in five months, according to the government. That bolstered expectations that the central bank will keep its key interest rate unchanged at a policy meeting next week.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index slipped 1% to 37,771.79, while the Japanese yen gained against the U.S. dollar. Early Friday, the dollar was trading at 151.64 yen, down from 151.89 yen.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 1.1% to 20,720.60, and the Shanghai Composite added 0.8% to 3,307.14.

China’s central bank kept its medium-term lending rate unchanged at 2%. It also issued 700 billion yuan ($98.3 billion) in one-year medium-term lending facility loans to financial institutions, as per the bank’s statement.

South Korea’s Kospi jumped 0.3% to 2,590.30 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.1% to 8,216.50. Taiwan’s Taiex rose 0.3%.

On Thursday, the US’ S&P 500 gained 0.2% to 5,809.86, breaking its first three-day losing streak since early September. It bounced between losses and gains through the day, and it was almost evenly split between stocks rising and falling. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.3% to 42,374.36 and the Nasdaq composite added 0.8% to 18,415.49.

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