Japan’s Nikkei at an 8-month peak after the central bank maintained its stimulus policy

Japan’s Nikkei rose to an eight-month high on Friday after the Bank of Japan kept its ultra-loose monetary policy unchanged, boosting the index further after a series of strong corporate results boosted it.

The Nikkei index rose to 28,879.24 points for the first time since August 19, and closed near this level at 28,856.44 points, up 1.4 percent.

The broader Topix index closed up 1.23 percent to 2,057.48 points, its strongest level since March 9.

The yen fell 0.83 percent to just over 135 against the dollar, which supported shares of Japanese exporters, especially automakers.

Despite this, banking stocks were a victim of the BoJ’s decision, as they turned from gains of 2.64 percent in the morning to losses of 2.41 percent as low interest rates will continue to crush lending profits for the foreseeable future.

As was widely expected, the Bank of Japan kept its target level for short-term interest rates at -0.1% and for the 10-year yield near zero, and pledged to continue stimulus “patiently”.

Announced a “broad” review of his monetary policy, which could last a year and a half, which indicates a lack of haste in changing policies.

The banking index recorded the worst performance among the 33 sub-indices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, but its losses fell significantly to only 0.28 percent at the close.

Transport equipment stocks rose 2.19 percent.

The losers on the Nikkei index were outnumbered by gainers, with 205 of 225 rising against a decline of 20.