SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Thursday morning trade as investors in Asia look ahead to the Bank of Korea’s rate decision expected later today.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.6% while the Topix index advanced 0.4%.

South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.11%. The Bank of Korea is set to announce its interest rate decision at 9 a.m. HK/SIN.

Australian stocks declined, with the S&P/ASX 200 falling 0.11%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.08% lower.

Overnight stateside, the S&P 500 climbed 0.23% to 4,701.46 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.44% to 15,845.23. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged, dipping 9.42 points to 35,804.38.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 96.875 following its climb from levels below 96.5 earlier in the week.

The Japanese yen traded at 115.42 per dollar, weaker than levels below 114.5 seen against the greenback earlier this week. The Australian dollar was at $0.7201, still off levels above $0.724 seen earlier in the trading week.