Asia-Pacific stocks mixed ahead of Bank of Japan rate decision; Biden and Xi set to speak

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Friday morning trade as investors await the Bank of Japan's monetary policy decision expected later today.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan slipped 0.2% in early trade while the Topix index sat below the flatline. South Korea's Kospi dipped 0.11%.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia climbed 0.18%.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.1% higher.

U.S. President Joe Biden is set to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, with the two leaders to discuss topics such as Russia's war against Ukraine and competition between the two countries, according to the White House.

The Bank of Japan is set to announce its latest monetary policy decision at 11:00 a.m. HK/SIN on Friday, though no change is expected.

Ahead of the BoJ's announcement, the Japanese yen traded at 118.50 per dollar, still weaker than levels below 118 seen against the greenback earlier in the week.

Elsewhere, the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday has approved its first interest rate hike in more than three years while the Bank of England on Thursday hiked rates for the third consecutive meeting.

Overnight stateside, the S&P 500 jumped 1.23% to 4,411.67. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 417.66 points, or 1.23%, to 34,480.76. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.33% to 13,614.78.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 97.998 — off levels above 99 seen earlier this week.

The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7381, having risen in recent days from levels below $0.721.