Asian markets mixed, Tokyo focus on bank meeting

HONG KONG: Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday in quiet trade after the previous day's rally, with Wall Street providing a lacklustre lead while eyes were on a Bank of Japan policy meeting.

The dollar held up against the yen after climbing in New York following news that Standard & Poor's had upgraded its debt rating outlook on the United States.

Tokyo traded flat a day after it surged almost five percent on upbeat US jobs news that allayed fears the US Federal Reserve will begin to soon row back on its easy money policy.

Hong Kong was also flat, while Sydney added 0.19 percent and Seoul was 0.60 percent lower.

Shanghai was closed for a public holiday.

The BoJ concludes its two-day policy meeting later on Tuesday, with some analysts tipping new measures to calm recent volatility in the markets.

Some market participants speculate that the central bank will extend the length of fixed 0.1 percent rate loans to banks to two years or more from the current one year so that the banks can buy more Japanese government bonds.

"If the bank doesn't do anything, stocks will likely fall," Hideyuki Ishiguro, senior strategist at Okasan Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.

The dollar stood at 98.78 yen in early Tokyo trade, compared with 98.87 yen in late Monday in New York and 98.25 yen in Asian trade on Monday.