The Bank of Japan headquarters is seen in Tokyo on January 30, 2017. The Bank of Japan will pull the plug on its eight-year negative interest rate policy in April, according to more than 80% of economists polled by Reuters, marking a long-awaited major shift from a global outlier central bank.
Asia-Pacific markets rose in choppy trading Thursday, as investors assessed the Federal Reserve's decision to cut interest rates by a half-percentage point.
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 2.13% to end at 37,155.33, while the broad-based Topix climbed 2.01% to finish at 2,616.87.
The Fed lowered its benchmark borrowing rate by a half percentage point, bringing its target range to 4.75% to 5%.
In lockstep with the Fed, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority cut its interest rate by 50 basis points to 5.25%, as the city's currency is pegged to the greenback.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 2.17% in the final hour of trade.
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