Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.3% to 40,074.87 after the central bank raised its benchmark rate to about 0.5% from 0.25%, as widely expected. It is the highest level for the rate since 2008, as the Bank of Japan shifts out of a long spell of extreme low interest rates meant to spur more borrowing and spending.

World shares advanced Friday after U.S. stocks rose to a record and the Bank of Japan raised its key lending rate.

Asian markets rose Friday (Jan 24) after a record day on Wall Street in response to Donald Trump's tax-cut pledge, while the yen weakened slightly ahead of an expected interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan later in the day.

Japan’s core inflation rate rose to a 16-month high at 3% in December, year on year, boosting the case for a rate hike from the Bank of Japan.

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US stock futures and Asian shares outside China slumped on Monday as investors weighed the implications of Chinese startup DeepSeek's launch of a free, open-source artificial intelligence model to rival OpenAI's ChatGPT.

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The yen was the only Group-of-10 currency rising against the dollar on Monday as investors sought it as a haven on concern President Donald Trump’s orders to impose tariffs and sanctions on Colombia could spark wider trade tensions and economic risks.

Chinese risk-free rates are at 20 year lows. This coupled with new policy moves may buoy the Hong Kong and Chinese markets.

SLB helped lead the market after the provider oilfield services delivered bigger profit and revenues for the end of 2024 than analysts expected. It jumped 6.1% after it also raised its dividend by 3.6% and said it’s returning $2.3 billion to its investors by buying back its own stock.

The US dollar dropped as much as 0.8 percent against a basket of currencies on Friday, before narrowing losses at the end of the day to be down 0.65 percent, but it still had its biggest weekly loss since November 2023, having lost 1.8 percent since Monday.

In a widely anticipated move, the Bank of Japan on Jan. 24 raised its short-term policy rate to 0.50% from 0.25%. Read more here.