Asian Stocks Close Mixed Friday

Updated from 1:27 a.m. EDT

Asian stocks closed mixed Friday, with Japan's benchmark index falling sharply, after the Bank of Japan reduced interest rates for the first time in seven years at a rate that was less than expected.

The central bank cut its base lending rate by 20 basis points to 0.3% from 0.5%. Most analysts had forecast a rate cut of 25 basis points.

Japan's 225 stock average finished down 5% to 8576.98. It had risen 26% over the last three days.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dropped 2.5%. The S&P/ASX 200 index in Australia closed higher by 0.4%. South Korea's Kospi rose 2.6%.

After markets closed in Japan,

Mitsubishi UFJ

(MTU)

announced that it had slashed its annual profit forecast by about 66% because of investment losses.

Stocks in Europe were lower. The FTSE 100 index in London fell 1.2%, and the DAX index in Frankfurt was 1% lower. U.K. bank

Barclays

(BCS) - Get Report

said it planned to raise about $11.8 billion from private investors in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

Stock futures in the U.S. were indicating a lower open on Wall Street.

S&P 500

futures fell 18.50 points to 943, while

Nasdaq

futures declined 15 points to 1330.

On Thursday, U.S. stocks finished higher as a decline in third-quarter gross domestic product was narrower than expected.

The

Dow Jones Industrial Average

climbed 189.73 points, or 2.1%, to 9180.69, and the S&P 500 added 24 points, or 2.6%, to 954.09. The Nasdaq jumped 41.31 points, or 2.5%, to 1698.52.