Japan's Nikkei Gains As BoJ Stands Pat

Japanese markets reversed early losses to end higher after the Bank of Japan kept its monetary policy intact and said it would scale down its huge bond-buying program and announce a detailed plan" for the reduction "during the next one to two years or so" at the next policy meeting in July.

The Nikkei average rose 0.24 percent to 38,814.56 amid relief over the central bank making no near-term changes to its bond buying program. The broader Topix index settled 0.54 percent higher at 2,746.61 despite a decline in banking stocks.

The central bank said details on reducing its massive bond holdings, acquired as the BOJ pumped trillions of dollars into the economy, would be decided and start after its next meeting in July. That helped send the Japanese yen lower against the dollar. The dollar has risen from a rate of about 140 yen to above 157 yen over the past year.

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