07:03 AM EDT, 04/26/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets were unevenly higher Friday after strong earnings reports overnight from US-based tech giants including Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), and following a decision by Japan's central bank to keep its low-interest rate monetary policy.

Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo finished in the green, while other regional exchanges were choppy.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened lower but rallied in the afternoon, finishing up 0.8% after the Bank of Japan disclosed no major changes to its accommodative monetary policy. The yen traded near 157 to the US dollar, a fresh 34-year low, following the decision from the central bank.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 306.28 to 37,934.76, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 168 to 53.

Leading the upside was chip-maker Socionext, up 7.8%, while machine-tool maker JTEKT declined 9.2%.

In economic news, Tokyo's core consumer price index (CPI) for April, which strips out fresh food prices, rose 1.6% year-on-year, down from the 2.4% rise logged in March, reported the Statistics Bureau.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened evenly and rose to the close, finishing up 2.1%, after financial house HSBC reported that global investors are upping their allocations to the long-depressed China equities market.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 366.61 to 17,651.15, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 71 to 10. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 4.6% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 6.3%.

Leading the upside was property developer Longfor, gaining 12.2%, while Sinopharm lost 0.9%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 1.2% to 3,088.64.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 1.1%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 1.3%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 1.4%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.3%, and the Thai Set declined 0.3%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.8%.