Bank of Japan
Policy Support Overriding Covid-19 and Geopolitical Concerns at Least for Now
June 16, 2020
The weakness of stock markets early Monday dramatically reversed direction when the Federal Reserve announced an expansion of its corporate bond purchases. That turnaround extended overnight into trading in the Pacific Rim, where markets closed up 4.9% in Japan, 5.3% in South Korea, 3.9% in Australia, 2.4% in Hong Kong, 2.0% in Singapore, 1.8% in […] More
Bank of Japan Board Holds Emergency Session
May 22, 2020
The Bank of Japan held an emergency unscheduled policy Board meeting that lasted just under an hour and did not change the the short-term policy interest rate of -0.1% or the 10-year JGB yield target of around zero percent. However, officials did unveil a new lending facility for small to mid-sized firms and moved out […] More
Provocations by Chinese National People’s Congress and Special Central Bank Meetings in Japan and India
May 22, 2020
China’s government has decided to crack down on Hong Kong dissonance with a series of new security laws. Protesters will have fewer liberties and will be punished more severely. Hong Kong’s stock market plunged 5.6% in response. At China’s National People’s Congress, the tradition of setting an annual growth target was abandoned in a sign […] More
Enhancement Approved of Bank of Japan Monetary Easing
April 27, 2020
Normally a 2-day deliberation, the BOJ Board’s meeting was completed in a single 3-hour 1-minute session. The eye-catching change at this month’s policy review was the shift to unlimited JGB purchases in order to ensure against any unforeseen rise of the 10-year yield above the target of around zero percent. Such a change had been […] More
Softer Dollar as Investor Risk Appetite of Improves
April 27, 2020
The dollar opened the new week on a down note, sliding 1.0% against the Australian dollar, 0.8% relative to the kiwi, 0.5% vis-a-vis the peso and sterling, 0.3% against the euro, and 0.2% versus the yen and loonie. Gold is little changed. The main financial market move today has been a 17.4% dive in West […] More
Bank of Japan Addresses Liquidity Squeeze With Several Policy Changes but Stops Short of Cutting Interest Rates Further
March 16, 2020
The Bank of Japan held an emergency Board meeting that lasted roughly two hours and then announced a number of actions clearly motivated by the approaching corporate fiscal yearend on March 31st. Unlike central banks in the U.S., South Korea, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Macau, Japanese officials did not cut their targeted interest rates […] More
Bank of Japan Leaves Policy Settings Unchanged
January 21, 2020
This month’s Bank of Japan meeting of the Policy Board concluded with no change in policy settings and the release of the quarterly Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices which includes a perplexing mix of upgraded growth forecasts but downgraded estimates of future core inflation. The announcement of no policy change after four hours and […] More
Virus Scare Grabs the Market’s Attention
January 21, 2020
Nothing changes the mood of investors like the sudden emergence of an unknown unknown. Just last week, markets were rejoicing about the signing of a Phase I trade deal between China and the United States, which engendered hopes of lessening trade tensions not just between the world’s two largest economies but elsewhere as well. Investors […] More
Thursday Rundown of Overnight News, Data Reports, and Central Bank Decisions
December 19, 2019
President Trump has been impeached by a House of Representatives partisan vote of 229-197. He will get a trial in the senate. Market movements today are mostly unremarkable. Sovereign debt yields are up. Equities are down a bit in Europe but started on an up note in the United States. New Zealand’s stock market rallied […] More
Bank of Japan Leaves Policy Settings as Is but Cuts Projected Growth and Inflation
October 31, 2019
The Bank of Japan’s latest policy review, a meeting lasting five hours and 18 minutes over two days, produced no change in policy settings: a negative 0.1% short-term policy interest rate, a targeted 10-year JGB yield of “around zero percent,” and plans to buy about JPY 80 tln of JGB’s annually. This month’s policy review […] More
