A day represented by consolidation and narrow-range trading in global stocks on Wednesday has left the Asian stock market without a definitive trajectory for Thursday. This opens an opportunity for investors to prepare for next week’s potentially significant Bank of Japan policy meeting. 

The main focus on Asia’s economic agenda on Thursday is the release of the Indian wholesale price inflation data following the announcement of the annual consumer inflation. This exceeded the expectations in February, while industrial production failed to meet the forecasts. 

Inflationary pressures, on the other hand, remain stable. In fact, the last time that the annual wholesale price inflation was above 1% was about a year ago, and prices were decreasing outright between April and October last year. 

Tokyo’s developments indicate momentum is being built toward the Bank of Japan raising interest rates next Wednesday. Doing this will end the negative interest rate policy that has been going on for eight years, and will be the first rate hike in 14 years. 

Furthermore, the Bank of Japan will be discussing rate increases through a preliminary survey on Friday on big firms’ wage talks.

Meanwhile, the Asian stock index shows various performances, with some showing gains while others experienced declines. 

Nikkei 225 slightly went up by 0.29%. Closing at 38,807.38, while the Kospi index gained 0.94% closing at 2,718.76. Nifty 50 index rose by 0.46% closing at 22,098.75, and STI index increased by 0.77% closing at 3,184.99. Shenzhen index also fell by 0.52% closing at 9,555.42.

Shanghai index, on the other hand, experienced a slight dip of 0.18% closing at 3,038.23. Hang Seng index also went down by 0.71% to close at 16,961.66.