Tokyo stocks closed higher on Thursday, reversing early losses as investors were relieved over the central bank's pledge to maintain its super-loose monetary policy at least for another year. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.48 percent, or 107.58 points, to 22,307.58 while the broader Topix index rose 0.51 percent, to 8.23 points, to 1,620.28. "Today's gains stemmed from the Bank of Japan's forward guidance, which made it clear that they will continue the massive easing for a while," said Seiichi Suzuki, senior market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Centre.
"The market knew that but the clear commitment prompted buying," he told AFP. Wrapping up a two-day policy meeting, the Bank of Japan revised down its estimate for growth and inflation forecasts. The central bank kept its ultra-loose monetary policy in place but added a fresh timeframe, saying the "extremely low" rates would be maintained "at least through around spring 2020".
The dollar rose to 111.93 yen from 112.36 yen in New York on Wednesday.
In individual stocks trade, game giant Nintendo gained 1.34 percent to 38,510 yen ahead of its earnings report later in the day. Zozo jumped 3.43 percent to 2,166 yen after the announcement that newly crowned Masters champion Tiger Woods will play in an event in Japan to be sponsored by the fashion shopping website operator.
Hitachi was up 1.89 percent at 3,667 yen after reports said it is planning to sell one of its core businesses Hitachi Chemical as the conglomerate restructures itself.
And Nissan was down 1.77 percent at 888.9 yen after the scandal-hit automaker issued a profit warning.
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