Asian Stocks Advance as Investors Await Bank of Japan Decision

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Asian stocks rose for a second day, following gains in U.S. shares, as investors awaited a Bank of Japan policy decision. Energy shares led the advance.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.3 percent to 146.91 as of 9:01 a.m. in Tokyo, paring this week’s slide to 0.8 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index jumped 1 percent on Thursday in New York and the Nasdaq Composite Index closed at a record high after the Federal Reserve signaled it will continue to support the economy even as growth picks up.

Japan’s Topix index added 0.9 percent. The BOJ ends a two-day policy meeting on Friday. More economists now see the BOJ expanding stimulus later, according to a Bloomberg survey June 8-15, after Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the yen’s exchange rate adjusted for inflation and trade with other nations has returned to levels before the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings in 2008.

Source : Bloomberg