Major Asian stock indices ended mostly lower today as investors assessed policy decisions of US Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost over 1.7 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite dropped around 1.2 percent, Singapore’s Strait Times index dipped over one per cent, and South Korea’s Kospi index fell around 0.3 per cent. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose over 1.1 percent. Earlier, Bank of Japan left its key policy rate unchanged at 0.5 per cent for the fourth consecutive time.
Major European indices were trading mixed in intra-day trade. London’s FTSE 100 added over 0.3 percent, while France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.4 per cent, and Germany’s DAX was trading 0.1 percent down,