JN Monetary Policy Statement

The Bank of Japan on Thursday held its benchmark interest rate steady at 0.25%, opting to take the time to assess the impact of financial and foreign exchange markets on Japan’s economic activity and prices. The yen weakened 0.3% against the dollar after the rate decision, trading at 155.42 and hitting a one-month low. Meanwhile, the country’s stock indexes pared gains, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 down 0.74% compared to the 0.96% loss before the announcement. The decision to hold rates surprised economists polled by Reuters, who ...

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) is likely to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged this week as it awaits greater clarity on domestic wages and spending trends as well as policy changes by the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, according to a survey of economists polled by CNBC. A slim majority of 13 out of 24 economists, or 54%, said BOJ is likely to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.25% at the end of its two-day meeting on Thursday. The same number of economists expect the Japanese central bank ...

video The Federal Reserve’s surprise decision in September to cut rates by a larger-than-expected 50-basis-points seems like a distant memory now, as policymakers are once again sending out hawkish soundbites. US economic indicators since the September meeting have been on the strong side, including the CPI report, with Fed officials cautioning that another 50-bps cut is unlikely in the near term. The sudden switch in the narrative from ‘hard landing’ to ‘soft landing’, or possibly even a ‘no landing’, has spurred a sharp reversal ...

The dollar rose against all the G10 currencies last week, but it was not because of higher US rates. In fact, the 10-year US Treasury yield fell for the first time in five weeks. The two-year yield did not rise for the first time in three weeks. Rather than an increase in US rates, several other countries' rates fell. The result was that the US 2-year premium over Germany rose for the fourth consecutive week and is now the most since June. The US premium over Canada rose for the third week and the sixth week in the past seven. It is ...

Bank of Japan officials see little need to rush into raising interest rates this month while they remain on track to hike at a later stage with inflation staying in line with forecasts, according to people familiar with the matter. Officials see only a small risk of prices significantly outpacing the central bank’s quarterly projections set out in July, reducing the need to act quickly, the people said. The BOJ also sees a need to monitor the US economy and the potential economic and market impact of the US election next month among ...