BOJ to increase buying of ETFs * But keeps money base target unchanged at Y80 trln * Yen jumps on disappointment over lack of aggressive easing SINGAPORE, July 29 (Reuters) – The safe-haven yen jumped against the dollar on Friday after the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy easing disappointed investors who had been hoping for more radical stimulus measures.
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The Nikkei 225 stock index dropped almost 2 percent but later regained lost ground, closing 0.6 percent higher at 16,569.27 on Friday.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan.MIAPJ0000PUS fell 0.64 percent, sliding back from its highest level since August 11 struck earlier in the day.
Elsewhere in the markets, oil fell to three-month lows, now down more than 20 percent from this year’s peak in June on growing worries that the world might be pumping more crude than needed.
The central bank was under heavy pressure to act after earlier this week Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced 28 trillion yen ($267 billion) in spending initiatives to help support the sagging economic recovery.
The dollar index fell 0.5 percent to 96.22.DXY, while the euro rose a third of one percent to $1.1110 EUR=. Chevron fared slightly better.
STRONG SALES: Amazon shares rose $7.58, or 1 percent to $759.86. While earnings dropped sharply from a year ago, Chevron’s results still beat analysts’ expectations.
The top dog, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings on Monday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.3 percent to 21,891.37.
Ahead of the central bank’s decision, Japan reported further signs of weakness in its economy in June, with industrial output and consumer spending falling from the year before and core inflation excluding volatile food prices at minus 0.5 percent.
OIL: In energy trading, benchmark US crude fell 39 cents to $40.75 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price worldwide oils, fell 32 cents to $42.91 in London.
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NEW YORK, July 29 (Reuters) – Weak U.S. economic growth data knocked down the dollar and yields on U.S. government debt Friday, while Japanese government bond yields rose the most in eight years after investors reacted coolly to the Bank of Japan’s latest effort to boost the economy.
