Stocks and the Bank of Japan

On Thursday, the Bank of Japan decided to keep the monetary policy. According to the statement, Japan’s economy is likely to continue growing despite the problems connected with overseas economies. However, economic problems abroad, as well as domestic demand, will affect the economy. Japanese stocks declined on December 19.

The Nikkei 225 fell by 0.29% to close at 23,864.85 as shares of FamiltyMart declined by more than 2%. Meanwhile, the Topix index dropped 0.13% to end its trading day at 1,736.11.

Mainland Chinese stocks strengthened their positions after experiencing problems. The Shanghai composite was mostly unchanged at 3,017.07. At the same time, the Shenzhen composite added 0.21% to around 1,713.03.

The Shenzhen component was mostly flat at 10,296.29.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index decreased by more than 0.4% during its final hour of trading. The shares of Chinese tech giant Tencent which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange declined by more than 1%.

In South Korea, the Kospi index closed slightly higher at 2,196.56. Shares of chipmaker SK Hynix rose 0.65%.

In the Asia Pacific region, the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia dropped 0.27% to close at 6,833.10.

Stocks in Europe

In Europe, stocks were mixed Thursday as investors have to deal with economic data and interest rate decisions from central banks.

Even the news that U.S. Congress voted to impeach President Donald Trump was not enough as markets showed a minimal reaction.

The Pan-European Stoxx 600 was mostly flat during afternoon trade. The autos fell by 0.7% meanwhile oil and gas stocks gained 0.7%.

The German DAX index declined by 49.40 points or 0.37% to 13172.76. Another major stock index French CAC 40 dropped 4.07 points or 0.07% to 5955.25. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 rose 10.86 points or 0.14% to 7552.71.