Japan’s Nikkei leads gains in Asia after Wall Street soars; BOJ and PBOC keep rates unchanged

Asia-Pacific markets opened higher on Friday with Japan’s Nikkei 225 leading gains, after Wall Street soared overnight following the Federal Reserve’s outsized rate cut.

The Bank of Japan kept its benchmark interest rate steady at around 0.25% — the highest rate since 2008 — at the conclusion of a two-day meeting Friday. 

Japan’s core consumer prices index climbed 2.8% year on year, in line with Reuters estimates, versus a 2.7% rise in the previous month. Excluding fresh food and energy, the inflation figure was 2%, versus 1.9% in the previous month.

The reading will be the last gauge of the economy before the BOJ concludes its two-day monetary policy meeting, where it’s expected to keep interest rates unchanged at 0.25%.

The Japanese yen firmed 0.13% against the greenback at 142.44.

China also did not tinker with its key lending rates, with the one-year loan prime rate — which affects corporate and most household loans — at 3.35% and the five-year LPR — a reference for mortgage rates — at 3.85%. 

Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped over 2% and the broad-cased Topix added 1.53%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 1.09%, and mainland China’s blue chip CSI 300 edged 0.18% lower.

South Korea’s blue chip Kospi gained 1.01% and the small-cap Kosdaq was up 1.15%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.51%.

Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes ended higher with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.26% to close at 42,025.19, crossing the 42,000 threshold for the first time.

The S&P 500 added 1.7% to end at 5,713.64, topping 5,700 for the first time.

The Nasdaq Composite surged 2.51% to finish at 18,013.98.

The three major averages are on pace for weekly gains, with the S&P 500 up nearly 1.6% through Thursday’s close. The Dow is toting a 1.5% jump on the week, while the Nasdaq is outperforming with a 1.9% advance.

—CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.