Bank of Japan will keep its key policy rate unchanged at next week’s meeting, sources told Nikkei.

South Korea's Lee said on Thursday he will press ahead with housing policy reform even if it provokes expected conflict, resistance and "political cost". He warned failure to act could inflate a property bubble and trigger decades-long economic stagnation, citing Japan's "lost decades". Lee said forthcoming measures and discussions will cover property holding taxes, capital gains taxes and housing loan rules.

Shanghai Stock Exchange said it took self-regulatory measures this week in 201 cases of abnormal securities trading, including ramping and pushing and fictitious orders; opened special inspections into 32 listed-company material events; and reported five suspected illegal/violative case leads to the CSRC.