Ueda, governor of the Bank of Japan, said Japan's economic and inflation outlooks could change materially depending on developments in the Middle East and other future events.

Bank of Japan Governor UEDA said many firms cite labor shortages and surging raw-material and other input prices, rather than rising financing rates, as the main constraint on growth-oriented investment.

Southbound Stock Connect posted net inflows of CNY 18.68bn today. Via Shanghai Stock Connect (southbound), Tracker Fund of Hong Kong and Tencent were net bought HKD 5.717bn and HKD 1.205bn respectively; Lenovo Group was the largest net seller at HKD 874mn. Via Shenzhen Stock Connect (southbound), Tracker Fund and Hang Seng China Enterprises were net bought HKD 1.816bn and HKD 1.661bn respectively; Yangtze Optical Fibre & Cable was the top net seller at HKD 509mn.