Asia markets to fall as new Bank of Japan chief chairs first policy meeting

Asia-Pacific markets are set to fall on Thursday as investors focus on the Bank of Japan’s first policy meeting led by new BOJ governor Kazuo Ueda.

Ueda is expected to maintain the ultra loose monetary policy of predecessor Haruhiko Kuroda for now, but expectations are that he will plot a path out of this policy in the future, according to media reports.

In Japan, the Nikkei futures contract in Chicago was at 28,340, while its counterpart in Osaka was at 28,310 against the Nikkei 225’s last close at 28,416.47.

In Australia, futures for the S&P/ASX 200 were at 7,311, lower than the index’s last close of 7,316.3, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also seems set for a lower open as futures tied to the index traded at 19,735, compared to the 19,757 close on Wednesday.

Separately, Singapore’s preliminary estimates for its unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2023 is also expected later today.

Overnight in the U.S., stocks ended mixed as banking fears eclipsed Big Tech earnings on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.68%, paring earlier gains. The S&P 500 slid 0.38%, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.47%, trimming gains after jumping as much as 1.43% in the trading day.

— CNBC’s Alex Harring and Tanaya Macheel contributed to this report