Tokyo's key Nikkei index opens higher with eyes on BoJ

TOKYO: Tokyo's key Nikkei 225 index opened higher on Friday helped by rallies in US high-tech shares, with investor focus shifting to the Bank of Japan's policy decision later in the day.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.26 percent or 75.82 points at 29,094.15 in early trade, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.19 percent or 3.77 points to 1,959.80.

"Japanese shares are seen supported by gains in the Nasdaq in the US... with investors paying attention to the Bank of Japan's policy decision," senior analyst Toshiyuki Kanayama of Monex said in a note.

The dollar fetched 110.26 yen in early Asian trade, against 110.18 yen in New York late Thursday.

The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday maintained its highly accommodative monetary policy as expected, but a majority of central bank officials now believe interest rates will increase in 2023, rather than 2024.

Several policymakers projected interest rate hikes as soon as 2022.

A day later, Wall Street equity investors gravitated towards technology giants and shunned financial and energy shares, reversing a trend that has held for most of 2021.

In Tokyo, the Japanese central bank will conclude a two-day policy board meeting later in the day, which is widely expected to extend a special loan programme to financially support companies.

Japan's core consumer prices, which exclude fresh food, edged up 0.1 percent in May on-year, the first monthly rise in the past 14 months, according to data published by the internal affairs ministry before the opening bell.

Among major shares in Tokyo, Eisai climbed 8.38 percent to 12,355 yen after JP Morgan revised upwards its evaluation of the shares, while its rival Takeda Pharmaceutical was down 0.90 percent at 3,723 yen.

Toyota was down 2.33 percent at 9,992 yen.