4/29/14 9:34 PM ET (Dow Jones)
By Daniel Inman Japanese stocks moved higher early on Wednesday, as markets turn focus to central-bank announcements in Japan and the U.S. Meanwhile, banks and retailers pulled Australia stocks lower.
The Nikkei was up 0.6% as the market reopened after Tuesday's public holiday. The benchmark bounced back from a 1% fall on Monday in light of a stronger yen and disappointing earnings from Honda Motor Company Ltd.
The yen, having softened since Japanese stocks stopped trading on Monday, provided another catalyst for the Nikkei. The dollar was last at Yen102.58, a touch lower than Yen102.64 late Tuesday in New York.
Yen trading was expected to be sluggish on Wednesday ahead of the Bank of Japan's monetary-policy meeting decision. Although few expect change in the central bank's policy, the market will look for clues about further monetary easing from its semiannual outlook report.
Attention will later shift to the U.S. when the Federal Reserve releases its policy statement.
Improved corporate earnings led to a positive overnight session on Wall Street, which boosted trading in Tokyo and the region. South Korea's Kospi added 0.3%.
Australia's S&P ASX 200 bucked the regional trend by falling 0.2%. This added to a sharp fall in the previous session that took place just after the market had hit a multiyear high.
A series of bank downgrades triggered steep falls on Tuesday in Australia that have continued. National Australia Bank Ltd. is down 0.8% and Bank of Queensland, nearly 1%.
Downbeat sentiment toward Australian retailers started on Tuesday after Wesfarmers Ltd. announced slower sales growth. The company lost another 1.6% on Wednesday and Woolworths Ltd. lost 2.4% despite reporting solid third quarter sales growth of 5.3% compared with a year earlier.
Write to Daniel Inman at daniel.inman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 29, 2014 21:34 ET (01:34 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2014 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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