Reuters (September 11)
“Analysts at JPMorgan now expect eight of the nine developed-market central banks to hike interest rates by the year end, including the Fed, BOJ, all four central banks in Europe, and the reserve banks of Australia and New Zealand.”
Tags: Analysts, Australia, BOJ, Central banks, Developed market, Europe, Fed, Hike, Interest rates, JPMorgan, Reserve banks, Year end
Financial Times (August 10)
“The yen has given up roughly half its gains following the historic joint intervention by the US and Japan, with investors saying the lack of a ‘unified voice’ among central banks lessened its market impact.” The prevailing view is that “the intervention would be unlikely to provide lasting support unless it was accompanied by interest rate rises from the Bank of Japan” and that the intervention might have been more effective with greater international co-operation, specifically involving the ECB, which was not consulted.
Tags: BOJ, Central banks, Co-operation, ECB, Gains, Interest rate, Investors, Japan, Joint intervention, Lasting support, Market impact, U.S., Yen
Wall Street Journal (June 18)
The Japanese yen “has now passed the closely watched 160-per-dollar level at which officials have previously intervened.” There are, however, reasons “why yen interventions this time around may prove trickier.” Even though the BoJ increased “rates to their highest level since 1995 this week,” the interest rate differential persists between Japan and the U.S., and this continues to punish the currency, as does the situation in the Middle East.
Tags: 160-per-dollar, 1995, BOJ, Currency, Differential, Interest rate, Intervened, Interventions, Japan, Middle East, Officials, Punish, Trickier, U.S., Yen
The Guardian (April 5)
This has become “a Japanese century – thanks to the yen’s role as easy money for global finance.” Thanks to “loose monetary policy” the yen has evolved “into the world’s cheapest and most reliable funding currency. By suppressing yields on public debt to keep Japan’s domestic economy afloat, the BoJ effectively created a publicly subsidised funding pipeline for bankers.” They can make a quick buck by borrowing cheaply in yen and investing in higher-return assets, such as US equities. The “yen carry trade” is enormous, with profits for global investors reckoned to run into tens of billions of dollars.”
Tags: Bankers, BOJ, Carry trade, Easy money, Economy, Equities, Funding currency, Global finance, Japanese century, Loose, Monetary policy, Public debt, Reliable, Suppressing, Yields
CNN (May 1)
“Another day, another piece of evidence that President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war with friends and foes is hurting the global economy. Today: Japan’s central bank cut its economic growth forecast for the country in half.” The Bank of Japan “lowered its expectations for 2025 gross domestic product growth to an anemic 0.5%, down from the previous projection of +1.1%, made in January.”
Tags: 0.5%, 2025, Anemic, BOJ, Economic growth, Escalating, Evidence, Expectations, Foes, Forecast, Friends, GDP, Global economy, Hurting, Japan, Trade war, Trump
Forbes (January 3)
“By the end of 2024, it was clear average national wages weren’t keeping pace with the rate of inflation…. The BOJ decided on December 19 that Japan isn’t ready to normalize interest rates,” with the official rate remaining 0.25%. This presents “quite a paradox for global investors who’d rushed into Nikkei 225 Stock Average stocks. If the BOJ thinks Japan still requires economic training wheels after all this time, why should they bet on Japan Inc.?”
Tags: 2024, BOJ, Global investors, Inflation rate, Interest rates, Japan Inc., National wages, Nikkei 225, Official rate, Paradox, Training wheels
Financial Times (August 7)
The equity sell-off in the U.S. “could have triggered the unwinding of the carry trade, not the other way around. And the timing suggests this is what happened. The equity sell-off did not start in earnest until Friday of last week — two days after the BoJ raised rates, or after currency traders had time to digest the news.”
Tags: BOJ, Carry trade, Currency traders, Equity, Rates, Sell-off, Triggered, U.S., Unwinding
Seeking Alpha (August 6)
The “market meltdown” on Monday “isn’t getting any less volatile, with things now moving in the opposite direction. Japan’s Nikkei ended the session up 10% overnight, marking its best session since 2008, following a plunge of 13% on Monday. Much of the volatility is said to have emanated in Japan, where a carry trade based on the yen went sour as the BOJ raised rates during the same week the Fed signaled its intention to cut.”
Tags: 2008, BOJ, Carry trade, Cut, Fed, Japan, Market, Meltdown, Nikkei, Plunge of 13%, Up 10%, Volatile, Yen
Markets Insider (August 3)
“Japan’s stocks took a hit on Friday, fueled by economic concerns in the US and the Bank of Japan’s interest-rate hike earlier this week.” Closing down 5.8%, the Nikkei marked “its largest daily decline since March 2020 after hitting record highs earlier this month.” The Nikkei was not alone. Amid signs of a cooling economy, U.S. stock indices “tanked across the board over the past two days due to a combination of discouraging economic data points, including rising unemployment and slowing manufacturing and construction.”
Tags: 2020, 5.8%, BOJ, Construction, Cooling, Decline, Discouraging, Economic concerns, Friday, Interest-rate hike, Japan, Manufacturing, Nikkei, Record highs, Stocks, U.S., Unemployment
Forbes (July 29)
“As central bank decisions go, the one Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda will make this week may be the toughest in modern history.” He is faced with deciding “whether to break with 25 years of zero interest rates and 23 years of quantitative easing by putting a notable rate hike on the scoreboard…. Making matters worse, smart economists can make nuanced abstractions compelling arguments for taking any of the three doors sitting before him.”
Tags: 25 years, BOJ, Central bank, Decisions, Economists, Quantitative easing, Rate hike, Toughest, Ueda, Zero interest
