US futures gain as Japan keeps its key interest rate unchanged

Asian stocks and U.S. futures were slightly higher on Friday after the United States regained more of its losses following several tumultuous days.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 edged up 0.2% to 53,800.28 after the Bank of Japan kept its key interest rate unchanged, as expected. The central bank has just raised its key rate to 0.75% in December. At the end of his policy meeting, he also slightly revised upwards his estimates for future inflation and economic growth.

The Japanese yen fell against the U.S. dollar, which traded at 158.64 yen, from 158.42 yen.

“With underlying inflationary pressures remaining firm, we expect the Bank of Japan to resume its tightening cycle in the coming months,” Abhijit Surya of Capital Economics said in a commentary.

Chinese markets also posted moderate gains. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.3% to 26,718.13, while the Shanghai Composite index also rose 0.3% to 4,133.58.

South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.6% to 4,983.36. The benchmark index had risen above 5,000 for the first time on Thursday, but fell back later in the day.

In Australia, the S&The P/ASX 200 edged up 0.2% to 8,862.20.

Taiwan’s Taiex jumped 0.8% and India’s Sensex was almost unchanged.

Thursday, the S&The P 500 climbed 0.5% to 6,913.35, extending its rally after U.S. President Donald Trump rolled back tariffs on European countries that he said opposed his calls for U.S. control of Greenland.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6% to 49,384.01 and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.9% to 23,436.02.

Details were scarce on a Greenland deal that Trump said he reached with the NATO chief, leaving investors wary about the future. It’s not signed yet.

This is the latest example of Trump making a significant initial threat, only to back down after a dramatic reaction from financial markets. This trend gave rise to the acronym “TACO,” suggesting that “Trump always lashes out” if markets react strongly enough. Tuesday’s decline in the U.S. stock market was the worst since October and large enough that Trump, who often takes credit when Wall Street is doing well, acknowledged “the decline.”

JPMorgan Chase rose 0.5% after a lawsuit filed by Trump against the bank caused small repercussions for its shares. Trump accused JPMorgan Chase of closing its accounts for political reasons after leaving office in 2021.

Treasury yields have remained relatively stable, suggesting that foreign investors have not rushed out of the U.S. bond market.

Yields received some support from reports on the strength of the US economy, which came in better than expected. One said fewer U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected, possibly indicating the pace of layoffs remains weak. A second suggests that the U.S. economy grew faster over the summer than the government had initially estimated.

A third said inflation in November was close to economists’ expectations, while U.S. consumer spending was slightly better than expected.

Global markets calmed after a softening in long-term Japanese government bonds, which hit a record high earlier this week on concerns that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi would take steps that would add heavily to the government’s already large debt.

The yield on 40-year Japanese government bonds fell after hitting a record high of more than 4%. It was trading at 3.0955% on Friday morning.

In other trading on Friday morning, the price of gold rose 0.8%, remaining near the $5,000 level. Silver gained 2.3%. Prices of these precious metals often rise when investors look for something safer to own.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil gained 52 cents to $59.88 a barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, rose 54 cents to $64.60 a barrel.

The euro rose from $1.1755 to $1.1750.

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AP Business writers Stan Choe, Matt Ott and Yuri Kageyama contributed.