ASIA MARKETS: Japan Stocks Rebound On Central-bank Move

By John Phillips and Wei-Zhe Tan

Asian markets were down Thursday tracking a negative lead from Wall Street, though the Tokyo market bounded back into positive territory after the Bank of Japan's announcement of additional easing measures.

As the first meeting under newly appointed Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda concluded, the Bank of Japan decided to launch an aggressive new easing campaign.

The central bank pledged to achieve a 2% inflation target in about two years, while taking additional easing action, such as increasing Japanese government bond (JGB) holdings at an annual pace of Yen50 trillion ($530 billion), with JGB holdings to double in two years.

The bank will terminate its asset-purchase program, with asset purchases to be absorbed with JGB purchases, under its new easing scheme called "Quantitative and Qualitative Monetary Easing."

The Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.6%.

In foreign exchange markets, the yen weakened against the U.S. dollar and the euro as investors welcomed the Bank of Japan's new easing measures.

The greenback (USDJPY) rose to Yen94.31 versus Yen93.05 late Wednesday in New York, while the euro (EURJPY) was at Yen120.99 from Yen119.51.

Major exporters recovered in Tokyo, with Nintendo (NTDOF) up 0.2% and Toyota Motor (TM) 0.9% higher.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (7011.TO) added 2.7% on a Nikkei report that the company, along with France's Areva SA , has clinched a joint contract to construct a nuclear power plant in Turkey.

In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 came off earlier lows on the Bank of Japan news and ended down 0.9%

Resources plays weighed on the Australian market amid commodity price weakness including a decline in copper to an eight-month low overnight. BHP Billiton (BHP) fell 1.5%, Newcrest Mining (NCMGF) dropped 5.2% and Rio Tinto (RIO) lost 1.4%.

Investors were also focused on the European Central Bank's policy decision due later Thursday, as well as Friday's U.S. jobs data for trading cues.

South Korea's Kospi Composite fell 1.3% amid continued concerns over North Korea's escalating military threats, while Singapore's Straits Times Index was off 0.3%.

Markets in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were shut for holidays.

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