Japan stocks soar 5 percent, yen falls on stimulus

FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2014 file photo, a Wall Street address is carved in the side of a building in New York. U.S. stocks are drifting in early trading Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014, as a parade of big companies turn in quarterly results. A strong gain for Visa pulled the Dow Jones industrial average higher. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2014 file photo, a Wall Street address is carved in the side of a building in New York. U.S. stocks are drifting in early trading Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014, as a parade of big companies turn in quarterly results. A strong gain for Visa pulled the Dow Jones industrial average higher. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

By Associated Press October 31, 2014 1 min read

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average surged 5 percent and the yen slid against the dollar after the Bank of Japan unexpectedly announced new stimulus to boost a flagging economic recovery.

Other Asian stock markets were also higher after the Japanese central bank’s announcement Friday. The dollar rose 1.2 percent to 110.64 yen.

The bank said it would increase its asset purchases by between 10 trillion yen and 20 trillion yen ($90.7 billion to $181.3 billion) to about 80 trillion yen ($725 billion) annually.

The Nikkei was up 4.6 percent at 16,380.11 after shedding some of its initial gains. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.2 percent and Seoul’s Kospi was up 0.1 percent.