Asia markets slip as BOJ holds rates; China factory activity expands for first time since April

This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.

Asia-Pacific markets slipped Thursday as investors look to the Bank of Japan's rate decision, as well as key business activity figures from China.

The BOJ held its benchmark policy rate at 0.25%, unchanged from the previous meeting. The bank released a two-line statement simply stating the decision, with no clues on the timing of its next rate hike.

In China, the country's manufacturing purchasing managers index flipped into expansion territory for the first time since April, with the National Bureau of Statistics revealing the manufacturing PMI came in at 50.1.

This beat forecasts from a Reuters poll of economists, who expected the manufacturing PMI to come in at 49.9, a softer contraction than the 49.8 the month before.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was 0.5% lower after the BOJ decision, closing at 39,081.25 and snapping a three-day winning streak. The broad based Topix slipped 0.3%, also ending three straight days of gains and finishing at 2,695.51.

South Korea's Kospi was 1.45% lower at 2,556.15, leading losses in Asia and hitting its lowest level since Sept. 11, but the small cap Kosdaq was up 0.66%, closing at 743.06.

Investors are assessing heavyweight Samsung Electronics' third-quarter earnings, which revealed a lower profit than the previous quarter. Most notably, Samsung's semiconductor unit reported third-quarter operating profit of 3.86 trillion won (about $2.8 billion), down 40% from the previous quarter.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.25%, closing at 8,160 and hitting its lowest level since Oct. 4.

In contrast, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index climbed 0.13% as of its final hour, and mainland China's CSI 300 was marginally above the flatline and closed at 3,891.03.

Overnight in the U.S., stocks slipped as investors digested a deluge of earnings reports and looked toward more results from megacap technology companies.

Alphabet exceeded analysts' expectations as the company saw strong quarterly revenue growth from its cloud business. Shares jumped almost 3%. However, Shares of chipmaker AMD slid more than 10% as its fourth-quarter revenue guidance failed to impress investors.

Tech titans Apple and Amazon are due Thursday, following results from Meta Platforms and Microsoft.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 0.56% after earlier rising to a fresh record high. The S&P 500 slid 0.33%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.22%, to close at 42,141.54.

— CNBC's Hakyung Kim and Pia Singh contributed to this report.

Bank of Japan reiterates resolve to keep hiking rates if economy continues to recover

Japan's central bank said it will keep hiking rates if the country's economy continues to recover, the BOJ wrote in its quarterly outlook report.

This comes after the bank held its benchmark policy rate at 0.25% on Thursday.

The report puts Japan's "potential growth rate" at 0.5% to 1%, with the BOJ adding that the country's economy is likely to "keep growing at a pace above its potential growth rate."

However, the BOJ also highlighted that it needs to "pay due attention" to the course of overseas economies, particularly the U.S., as well as developments in capital and financial markets.

— Lim Hui Jie

China's manufacturing activity expands for the first time since April

China's manufacturing purchasing managers index flipped into expansion territory for the first time since April, with the National Bureau of Statistics revealing the manufacturing PMI came in at 50.1.

This beat forecasts from a Reuters poll of economists, who expected the manufacturing PMI to come in at 49.9, a softer contraction than the 49.8 the month before.

The composite PMI stood at 50.8, higher than the 50.4 in August. China's non-manufacturing PMI also came in stronger at 50.2, up from 50.0 the month before.

Read more in the full story here.

— Lim Hui Jie

Japan's retail sales miss expectations, marks slowest rise in over two years

Japan retail sales grew 0.5% year on year in September, sharply lower from the revised 3.1% rise in August and marking its slowest rise since February 2022.

The figure also missed the 2.3% expected by economists polled by Reuters.

A weak retail sales figure may make it harder for the Bank of Japan to raise rates, as the central bank has stated that it is looking for a demand-pull inflation scenario to take shape in the country.

— Lim Hui Jie

CNBC Pro: As Diwali begins, these 4 Indian stocks are set to rise over 30%, analysts say

Interest in India has been growing steadily among investors.

As the Diwali festive season gets underway in the South Asian powerhouse, several sectors — and stocks — are expected to do well, analysts say.

Samvat 2081 — which starts on the day of Diwali on Oct. 31 — marks the start of the Hindu new year. It can lead to stock market moves, as some investors view it as a new beginning.

Indian markets made history in Samvat 2080 with the BSE Sensex surpassing 85,900 in September while the benchmark Nifty 50 index is crossed 26,250. Both indexes gained around 25% in the year, analysts from Kotak Securities flagged.

Analysts from Kotak and Mirae Asset revealed four buy-rated Indian stocks with over 30% potential upside they are betting on this Diwali.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amala Balakrishner

BofA base case: Fed is on track to cut rates by 25 basis points

Bank of America thinks the Federal Reserve remains on track for a 25 basis point cut at its meeting next week.

"The October jobs report will be noisy," analyst Shruti Mishra said in a Wednesday note. "Even if there is an upside surprise, we do not think the Fed will have enough conviction keep rates unchanged, especially with the policy rate still close to 5%."

Mishra expects nonfarm payrolls to rise by 100,000 in October after coming in at 254,000 the previous month, viewing that forecast a "solid print."

About 96.7% of traders are forecasting a 25 basis point cut, per the CME Group FedWatch Tool.

— Pia Singh

Yen gains against the dollar

The Japanese yen rose 0.2% against the dollar on Wednesday as the greenback broadly weakened against major currencies.

The dollar was last trading at 153.03 yen. Month to date, the greenback has managed to strengthen 6.5% against the yen and remains 8.5% higher for the year.

— Hakyung Kim

Outsized bets on Trump to win the election are a 'trap,' says Freedom Capital Markets strategist

While betting has largely skewed toward former President Donald Trump winning the election next week, polling is likely more accurate, according to Freedom Capital Markets chief global strategist Jay Woods.

"Betting on Trump — Too many people are falling into this trap," Woods said. "They're quoting betting sites and what the betting odds are on Trump winning but the polls are spot on. It is a dead heat right now."

"The Jets were favored to win too, and they lost. It's just where the money is going," Woods added.

— Brian Evans