Summary The country's central bank meeting made no changes to its 80 trillion yen
HONG KONG (AP) Most Asian stock indexes rose Friday, with China s benchmark at its highest in seven years, after Wall Street eked out another record close.
KEEPING SCORE: Japan s Nikkei 225 index edged 0.1 percent lower to 20,172.15 and South Korea s Kospi rose 0.5 percent to 2,134.11. Hong Kong s Hang Seng advanced 1.2 percent to 27,863.25. The Shanghai Composite Index in mainland China jumped 1.9 percent to 4,616.32, the highest level since 2008. Australia s S&P/ASX 200 dipped less than 0.1 percent to 5,659.90. Southeast Asian indexes were mixed.
JAPAN STIMULUS: The country s central bank meeting made no changes to its 80 trillion yen ($660 billion) annual stimulus program, as its policy board reaffirmed its assessment that Asia s second biggest economy was recovering moderately.
WALL STREET: Major U.S. stock indexes eked out another record close as energy companies gained on rising oil prices. The Standard & Poor s closed up 0.2 percent at 2,130.82 while the Dow Jones industrial average edged up 0.34 point to 18,285.74. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.4 percent to 5,090.79.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude slipped 8 cents to $60.64 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.74 to close at $60.72 a barrel on Thursday. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oil used by many U.S. refineries, lost 14 cents to $66.40 in London.
CURRENCIES: The dollar declined to 120.97 yen from 121.05 yen in the previous trading session. The euro rose to $1.1127 from $1.1110.
