Tokyo stocks close lower after central bank decisions

Tokyo stocks closed lower on Thursday following another big interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan’s decision to keep its easing policy. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended down 0.58 per cent, or 159.30 points, at 27,153.83, while the broader Topix index lost 0.24 per cent, or 4.68 points, to 1,916.12.

The Bank of Japan said it would leave its monetary easing policy in place, just a day after the Fed announced a third successive jumbo interest rate hike. The BoJ’s decision sent the dollar surging to as much as 145.28 yen -- a fresh 24-year high -- before easing back slightly.

But by late Tokyo hours, the dollar fetched 145.21 yen, against 144.02 yen in New York late Wednesday.

The yen has taken a beating in recent months as the Japanese central bank sticks with a decade-old policy intended to achieve sustained two-per cent inflation -- a benchmark seen as key to turbocharging the world’s third-largest economy.