Asian stock markets are steady and are expected to set a record for the longest weekly consecutive gains since May.

Asian stock markets held steady on Friday, with the Asian benchmark index on track for a third consecutive week of gains, marking the longest winning streak since May. The MSCI Asia Pacific index was largely flat, with gains from Alibaba, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Tencent offsetting the decline in the Japanese stock market following the Bank of Japan's policy decision. This week, the MSCI Asia index rose by 0.3%. Benchmark indices in Australia and New Zealand rose, while the benchmark index in South Korea fell. After a two-day meeting in Tokyo on Friday, the Bank of Japan kept its policy rate unchanged at 0.5%, with the Japanese benchmark TOPIX index falling 1% earlier in the afternoon. Shares of Asian Intel suppliers like Lasertec rose after NVIDIA agreed to invest $5 billion in American chipmaker Intel.