Asia-Pacific shares trade higher, BOJ makes no change to yield range

The Japanese yen weakened against the greenback after the Bank of Japan surprised markets by keeping its yield curve tolerance band unchanged.

The Japanese yen weakened 2.04% against the U.S. dollar after the announcement and last stood at 130.94.

“Japan’s economy is projected to continue growing at a pace above its potential growth rate,” the central bank said in a statement.

The Bank of Japan also left its interest rate unchanged at an ultra-dovish -0.1% – in line with expectations and maintaining the same rate it’s kept since 2016.

—Jihye Lee, Lee Ying Shan

Hong Kong listed gaming stocks rose after China granted license approvals for 88 games, amongst which include NetEase, Tencent Holdings and miHoYo, marking a further easing of Beijing’s gaming crackdown.

Shares of NetEase jumped as high as 6.81% in early trade, notching its highest in more than four months. Tencent stocks added 0.11%.

–Lee Ying Shan

Japan’s central bank is likely to broaden its 10-year treasury yield curve control range by another 50 basis points to a range of 1% below and above its 0% target, UBS Global Wealth Management executive director Tan Teck Leng said.

“The scenario of a completely abandonment of the YCC is unlikely,” he said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia,” adding a move would be “uncharacteristic” of the central bank.

“I think the easiest for them to do is remove the cap, let it find fair value – but then again it comes to very big uncertainties, which is why we think that, as a middle ground, they have to at least raise it to a 1.0% cap,” he said.

The yield on the 10-year Japanese Government Bonds exceeded the upper ceiling of its band for a 5th straight session on Wednesday morning ahead of the BOJ’s monetary policy announcement.

Japan’s private-sector manufacturing orders for November fell 8.3% compared to the previous month, according to official data.

The drop was significantly larger than Reuters’ expectations of a 0.9% decline. On an annualized basis, manufacturing orders fell 3.7%.

The private-sector machinery figures exclude orders from volatile ones for ships and electric power companies.

—Lee Ying Shan

As electric cars become increasingly popular, a new manufacturing technique that could make them more affordable is garnering interest, according to Morgan Stanley.

Some automakers are outsourcing the process which could benefit three leading Asian parts suppliers, said the Wall Street bank.

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— Ganesh Rao

The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index fell to end the day, as Goldman Sachs shares weighed on the stock index.

The Dow lost 391.76 points, or 1.14%, to close at 33,910.85. The S&P 500 fell 0.2% to…