06:51 AM EDT, 10/11/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets were mixed Friday in holiday-thinned trading, as investors mulled Beijing stimulus plans and earnings reports in Japan.

Hong Kong exchanges were shuttered for the Double Ninth Festival celebrations.

Tokyo finished in the green ahead of a three-day weekend, Shanghai lost ground, and other regional exchanges were largely mixed and muted.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher and closed up 0.6%, after solid earnings from a bellwether major retailer. A softer yen boosted export issues.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 224.91 to 39,605.80, although losing issues outnumbered gainers 160 to 64.

Leading the upside was retail conglomerate Fast Retailing, up 6.1% after reporting record-high profits for the fourth year in succession.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 2.6% to 3,217.74, ahead of a slated Saturday briefing by China's finance minister that is expected to clarify Beijing's plans for fiscal stimulus.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI fell 0.1%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 1.1%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.1%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.3%, and the Thai Set inclined 0.1%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.3%.

In other news, the Bank of Korea, South Korea's central bank, cut its benchmark interest rate to 3.25% from 3.50%, the first cut since May of 2020.

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