Asian stocks: Japan tumbles as BOJ vows more rate hikes, China rebound stalls

Most Asian stocks were muted on Thursday as Japanese shares plummeted after the Bank of Japan flagged more interest rate hikes, while a rebound in Chinese markets stalled on more underwhelming business activity data.

Regional markets took little support from an overnight rally on Wall Street, where signals on a September interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve and some strong technology earnings powered sharp gains on Wall Street.

US stock index futures rose in Asian trade, with focus turning to earnings from tech giants Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) later in the day.

Nikkei 225, TOPIX plummet as BOJ flags more rate hikes
Japan’s Nikkei 225 and TOPIX indexes slid 3.1% and 3.8%, respectively, after the BOJ struck an unexpectedly hawkish tone during its Wednesday meeting.

Governor Kazuo Ueda said the bank will continue to raise interest rates after a 15 basis point hike on Wednesday, especially if the economy and inflation continue to improve in line with the BOJ’s outlook.

Japanese stocks had initially reacted positively to the BOJ meeting, given that the bank struck a somewhat dovish tone by setting a prolonged timeline for reducing its bond buying program.

But Ueda’s comments, which came after the market close, indicated that the central bank was closer to ending its decades of stimulative measures earlier than initially expected.

“If the economy and prices move in line with our projection, we will continue to raise interest rates,” Ueda said at a press conference. “We don’t see 0.5% as any key barrier when raising rates.”

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The BOJ’s benchmark short-term rate stood around 0.25% after Wednesday’s hike.

China rebound stalls on more negative PMI data
China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes moved in a flat-to-low range after rebounding from more-than five-month lows in the prior session. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.2%.

Caixin purchasing managers index data on Thursday showed an unexpected contraction in China’s manufacturing sector. The reading came just a day after government PMI data showed a similar trend.

The Caixin PMI was a major pain point, given that it had so far in 2024 painted a more positive picture of China’s manufacturing sector. But Thursday’s reading brought up concerns over a broader slowdown in the sector.

While the weak PMIs and positive comments from Beijing had fueled bets on more stimulus- in part sparking Wednesday’s rebound in Chinese markets- persistent caution over an economic slowdown kept investors mostly averse towards Chinese stocks.

Broader Asian markets were marginally positive, tracking overnight strength on Wall Street.

Australia’s ASX 200 rose 0.4%, briefly hitting a record high at 8,148.70 points after some soft inflation readings from the country triggered a rally on Wednesday.

South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.4%, with local chipmaking stocks tracking gains in their U.S. peers. Taipei shares of TSMC (TW:2330) rose nearly 2%.

Futures for India’s Nifty 50 index pointed to a flat open, as the index struggled to make new highs above 25,000 points.