Nikkei steady but Asian equities rally as the BOJ remains dovish

Tuesday saw advances in most Asian sectors, following Wall Street's lead as tech gains drove U.S. indices to new highs. Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan stuck to its ultra-dovish attitude and predicted slower inflation.

The media reported that the government was intending to mobilise more actions to help local stock markets, which caused Hong Kong's Hang Seng index to rise from 15-month lows. Meanwhile, Chinese markets partially delayed recent losses.

However, mainland Chinese indices continued to hover at multi-year lows, particularly as signs of the nation's ongoing economic difficulties hammered confidence.

Tuesday's intraday gains in Japanese stocks were pared, with the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX index trading sideways throughout afternoon trading. It was earlier in the session that the two had soared to fresh 34-year highs.

A small amount of profit-taking struck Japanese markets, which had surged significantly ahead of Tuesday's BOJ meeting.

The BOJ maintained its extremely dovish stance, citing growing economic uncertainties in Japan. However, the bank also downgraded its fiscal 2024 consumer price index inflation prediction, which is encouraging for the Japanese economy.

The BOJ has little incentive to start tightening policy due to lower inflation, and on Tuesday, the central bank provided few hints about any such plans. A major factor supporting Japanese equities was the BOJ's extreme dovishness, which allowed for loose monetary policy to persist despite increasing interest rates elsewhere in the globe.

India's Nifty 50 index began trading 0.7% higher as the nation's heavyweight IT firms followed the performance of their international counterparts.

Following the opening of a contentious temple in North India, sentiment for the nation also improved and concerns of intercommunal violence decreased.

(Sources: investing.com, reuters.com)