Associated Press
Shares were mixed in Asia on Tuesday after the Bank of Japan hiked its benchmark interest rate for the first time in 17 years, ending a longstanding negative rate policy at odds with the stances of most central banks. In a widely anticipated move, the BOJ raised its overnight call rate to a range of 0 to 0.1%, up from minus 0.1%. It said that wage increases and other indicators suggested that inflation had stabilized above the BOJ's 2% target, but noted “extremely high uncertainties,” including weakness in industrial production, exports, housing investment and government spending.