Geopolitics, Central Bank Outlooks Lift Asian Stock Markets

05:41 AM EST, 01/23/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets largely gained on Friday on declining geopolitical tensions in Europe, and on signs of moderation from the two major regional central banks, the Bank of Japan and the People's Bank of China.

Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo finished in the green, as did most other regional exchanges.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened evenly on Wall Street cues and edged higher, finishing up 0.3% despite tech-sector headwinds, after US chip giant Intel reported a soft Q4.

Trader sentiments were boosted when the Bank of Japan held its key policy rate unchanged at 0.75%, citing moderating consumer-price inflation in the nation.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 157.98 to 53,846.87, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 134 to 88.

Leading the upside was game-maker Nintendo, up 4.5%, while semiconductor-manufacturing equipment maker Lasertec declined 5.8%.

In economic news, Japan's headline CPI slowed to a 2.1% on-year rise in December, down from a 2.9% on-year rise in November, the Ministry of Internal Affairs & Communications reported. The CPI-core, the metric followed by the Bank of Japan, eased to 2.4% on-year gain in December, from 3% rise in November.

In other news, Japan's flash composite manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI), a combination of the nation's manufacturing and services sectors, rose to 52.8 in January from 51.1 in December, striking further above the 50-mark that separates growth from contraction, reported S&P Global.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened higher and held ground, closing up 0.5% on signs the nation's central bank will ease in 2026.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 119.55 to 26,749.51, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 48 to 39. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 0.6% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 0.7%.

Leading the upside was Xinyi Solar, gaining 11.2%, while personal-products maker Hengan International declined 2.4%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.3% to 4,136.16.

In economic news, People's Bank of China Pan Gongsheng said the central bank still has room to cut the reserve requirement ratio and interest rates this year, reported the state-run Xinhua news.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 0.8%; the Taiwan TWSE added 0.7%; the Australian ASX 200 gained 0.1%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 1.3%, and the Thai Set added 0.2%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.9%.

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