Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.3% to 40,074.87 after the central bank raised its benchmark rate to about 0.5% from 0.25%, as widely expected. It is the highest level for the rate since 2008, as the Bank of Japan shifts out of a long spell of extreme low interest rates meant to spur more borrowing and spending.

U.S. stocks are edging back from their all-time high as they close out a second straight winning week. The S&P 500 fell 0.4% on Friday, a day after setting a record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 165 points,

The technology-dominated index slipped 3.07% to finish at 19,341.83. The S&P 500 shed 1.46% and closed at 6,012.28. The Dow Jones Industrial Average managed to add 289.33 points, or 0.65%, settling at 44,713.58.

World shares advanced Friday after U.S. stocks rose to a record and the Bank of Japan raised its key lending rate.

The fading shadow of reflationists in the Bank of Japan, and the latest addition to the board of an academic favouring an end to ultra-low interest rates, will likely bring the central bank's thinking closer to global peers taking a more conventional approach on monetary policy.

LIVE: Markets in Indian are poised to open on a flat note with a positive bias, following a lower close on Wall Street overnight after the US Fed held interest rates steady on Wednesday

By Benjamin Nathan OTCHERE Expanding retail investor participation in a stock market is crucial for a nation’s financial ecosystem. When retail investors are  engaged, markets tend to be more vibrant,

Stocks in the Asia-Pacific region mostly climbed Tuesday, Jan. 28, with the Japanese market showing a third day of decreases and shares in Hong Kong climbing for the third session. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index Hang Seng Index gained 0.1% to 20,225.11, while the Nikkei 225 Index NIKKEI 225 Index of Japanese companies dropped 1.4% to 39,016.87.

Japan and Hong Kong stocks were set to open mixed Tuesday, with several Asia-Pacific markets closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. Japan's Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a lower open for the market. The futures contract in Chicago was at 39,150 and its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 39,050 compared to the index's previous close of 39,565.8.

Wall Street's superstars tumbled Monday as a competitor from China threatens to upend the artificial-intelligence frenzy they've been feasting on.

Wall Street is tumbling Monday on fears that the market's winners who have feasted on the artificial-intelligence frenzy are under threat from a competitor in China that can do similar things for much cheaper.

World shares were mostly lower on Monday after U.S. stocks edged back from their all-time high, with many Asian markets closed for holidays. In early European trading,