Wall Street pointed slightly lower in early trading Friday but remains on track to close the week with solid gains with major corporations turning in largely healthy earnings reports. Futures for the S&P 500 ticked down 0.

Japan’s core inflation rate rose to a 16-month high at 3% in December, year on year, boosting the case for a rate hike from the Bank of Japan.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.3% to 40,074.87 after the central bank raised its benchmark rate to about 0.5% from 0.25%, as widely expected. It is the highest level for the rate since 2008, as the Bank of Japan shifts out of a long spell of extreme low interest rates meant to spur more borrowing and spending.