Asia: Stocks higher thanks to Japanese monetary policy decision and Chinese GDP revision
News that China revised its gross domestic product (GDP) for 2013 and Japan kept its monetary policy measures unchanged drove Asian stocks to jump on Friday.
Nikkei 225 Index rose higher by 2.39% after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) announced it will boost the monetary base at an annual pace of ¥80trn.
The central bank also offered a more positive outlook on the economy for next year after it entered a technical recession, defined as two successive quarters of contraction, during the third quarter of the year.
In October, the BoJ unexpectedly expanded its monetary-easing plan in a bid to revive growth.
CMC Markets analysts said: “The BoJ offered an upbeat outlook for the Japanese economy suggesting it can overcome international difficulties and soon pull out of recession.”
The Japanese stocks were also helped by the strong US dollar and a weaker yen.
In China, the Shanghai index was up 1.67%, driven by a revision in the GDP for 2013 to 3.4% higher. The GDP was 58.8trn (£6.1trn), according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
The revision showed a bigger input from the services sector, which accounted for 46.9% of the GDP, up from an initial estimate of 46.1%.
However, Capital Economics economist Julian Evans-Pritchard warned: “The relatively small upwards adjustment, compared with previous censuses revisions, won't make a huge difference to how the economy is viewed or to key metrics, such as China's debt to GDP ratio.
The Bureau also said that the revision "could affect the size of 2014 GDP but will basically not affect GDP growth for 2014”.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was higher by 1.25%, hitting a one-week high of 23,116 points. The index has been boosted this week by the positive statement from the US Fed which said it will be "patient" to tighten monetary policy.