The BOJ has been the most daring of global central banks in using monetary stimulus to confront deflationary pressures and stagnation, but Kuroda recently began to publicly weigh the costs of its extraordinary easing against the benefits, a shift from his “whatever-it-takes” approach of the past three-plus years.
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This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Hours before an eagerly awaited rate decision by the US Federal Reserve, Japan’s central bank kept its core interest rate at a negative level of -0.1% to encourage banks to lend more. Wagers that the Bank of Japan may move to lift long-term yields at its meeting this week helped push US 30-year bonds to a 4.4 percent loss this month through September 19.
After a solid start in the early european session, sterling slid over half a percent to $1.2953, its weakest level since August 16.
And in the latest economic data, a Commerce Department report showed USA housing starts fell more than expected in August, sliding 5.8 per cent to a 1.14 million annualised rate.
The Australian dollar inched higher against USA dollar on Tuesday as Reserve Bank of Australia hinted at a steady policy outlook, but trading was overshadowed by looming meetings of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and Federal Reserve.
The BOJ underwhelmed investors back in July by doubling its ETF purchase program.
The Dow Jones industrial average added 9.79 points, or 0.05 percent, to 18,129.96; the S&P 500 gained 0.64 point, or 0.03 percent, to 2,139.76; and the Nasdaq Composite rose 6.33 points, or 0.12 percent, to 5,241.35.
Wall Street ended little changed on Tuesday, Sept. 20, as healthcare gains countered declines in energy shares, a day before highly anticipated outcomes of monetary policy meetings in the United States and Japan.
In bond markets, U.S. Treasury yields spiked higher immediately after the decision, as investors apparently seem to believe the BOJ’s move to steepen the yield curve will have a ripple effect on other bond markets.
Sensex is trading at 28603 levels, up by 78 points, while Nifty is trading at 8802 points, up by 26 points on intraday basis.
Crude oil futures rose on Tuesday despite remarks from a top OPEC official who downplayed the possibility of a deal between major producers to curb output.
Benchmark US crude picked up 14 cents to 43.44 dollars a barrel in NY.
The Bank of Japan on Wednesday announced that it was keeping its key interest rate at -0.1% and left bond purchases unchanged. PulteGroup gave up 58 cents, or 2.9%, to 19.29 dollars (£14.79) and Lennar, which reported strong quarterly results, shed 1.59 dollars, or 3.5%, to 43.50 dollars (£33.35).
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OVERSEAS: France’s CAC 40 was up 0.2 percent while Germany’s DAX rose 0.6 percent.
