Asia markets mixed as Bank of Japan holds rates, but adjusts YCC stance

Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid as much at 2.4% on Friday as the Bank of Japan adjusted its stance on its yield curve control policy Friday. The benchmark index ended the day 0.4% down at 32,759.23 while the Topix saw a smaller loss of 0.2%, closing at 2,290.61.

The BOJ also held its benchmark policy rate at -0.1%, in line with expectations from economists polled by Reuters.

Japan’s central bank said that it will continue to allow 10-year government bond yields to fluctuate in the range of around plus and minus 0.5%.

However, it will “conduct yield curve control with greater flexibility, regarding the upper and lower bounds the range as references, not as rigid limits, in its market operations.”

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.7% to end at 7,403,6 as the country’s retail sales fell 0.8% year on year in June, lower than expectations in a Reuters poll that the retail sales figure will remain unchanged from a year ago.

South Korea’s markets were more mixed, with the Kospi down 0.12% and the Kosdaq up 3.39%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 1.32%, while the Shanghai Composite was up 1.7% and the Shenzhen Component gained 1.66%.

Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes slid, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 0.67% and snapping its 13-day winning streak.

Should the Dow have recorded a 14th straight day of gains, the index would have tied its record winning streak going way back to 1897.

Separately, the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.55%, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.64%.

— CNBC’s Sarah Min and Samantha Subin contributed to this report