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July 28, 2024
 

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BOJ

Hedge funds have been consistently short the yen since 2021, according to CFTC, with the trade remaining popular in recent months on expectations that the BOJ’s pursuit of policy normalization will nonetheless remain accommodative.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 23, 2024
Hedge funds boost bearish yen bets after BOJ’s dovish hike
The yen fell more than 1% against the dollar following the conclusion of the central bank’s meeting Tuesday, and is now set for a second weekly drop.
Shoppers in Tokyo on Tuesday
BUSINESS
Mar 22, 2024
Historic day for BOJ will take some time to be felt by people in Japan
With future rate hikes likely, the yen and mortgages could still see a more substantial impact.
People attend a seminar on the NISA tax-free investment program last November.
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2024
Higher share prices lift Japan household assets to record at 2023 end
Japanese households had a record ¥2,141 trillion in assets at the end of 2023
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference on Tuesday after the central bank ended its ultra-aggressive monetary stimulus program and scrapped the world's last negative interest rate.
EDITORIALS
Mar 22, 2024
The BOJ's rate hike is both more and less than it seems
There are some fears that the BOJ's return to a positive interest rate environment threatens weak companies.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. More than a quarter of 47 economists surveyed by Bloomberg said the bank will raise the policy rate again in October while 23% said the hike will come in July.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 22, 2024
BOJ watchers see next rate hike by October and risk of faster moves
More than a quarter of 47 economists surveyed said the bank will raise the policy rate again in October, while 23% said the hike will come in July.
Consumer prices in Japan rose 2.8% in February from a year ago, with the pace speeding up from 2% in January, even though there have been pockets of weakness in consumer demand.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 22, 2024
Japan’s speedier inflation pace keeps BOJ’s next move in focus
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.8% in February from a year ago, with the pace speeding up from 2% in January.
The Bank of Japan's recent decision to abandon negative interest rates is seen more as a symbolic shift.
COMMENTARY
Mar 21, 2024
BOJ finally ditches negative rates, but this is no liftoff
It's the end of an era for the Bank of Japan as negative interest rates are phased out.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks to reporters after meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 21, 2024
BOJ turns page on Abenomics, giving reeling Kishida election hope
The bank's aggressive monetary easing was one of the three pillars of the deflation-fighting program.
Analysts say further rate hikes by the Bank of Japan could prompt the downfall of "zombie" firms in the face of higher borrowing costs, but that the current labor shortage could help offset some of the adverse impacts of possible insolvencies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 20, 2024
BOJ rate hike may spell end for Japan's unprofitable 'zombie' firms
The COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, pushed up the number of such firms that are barely surviving while struggling to cover debt-serving costs.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. A survey by Bloomberg indicates a majority of analysts surveyed doesn’t expect another rate hike as a base case, but plenty of others are warning that the BOJ may not be finished.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 20, 2024
Investors and economists split on whether BOJ will raise rates again
By moving in March instead of the consensus view of April, Gov. Kazuo Ueda secured space to raise borrowing costs again if data supports the case.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda (center) and Deputy Govs. Ryozo Himino (left) and Shinichi Uchida (right) attend a news conference at the bank headquarters in Tokyo in April 2023
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Mar 20, 2024
How the Bank of Japan's plan for a smooth stimulus exit unfolded
The decision was complicated by differences between BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda's two deputies, as well as the governor's wavering on the exit timing.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 19, 2024
Japanese business groups welcome BOJ's first rate hike in 17 years
"I think the BOJ has caught the indications that a virtuous cycle between wages and prices has started," Keidanren Chairman Masakazu Tokura said.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda attends a news conference after a policy meeting at the bank's headquarters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 19, 2024
BOJ introduces first rate hike in 17 years following pay gains
The negative rates policy, the last one in the world, had been a symbol of the Bank of Japan's ultraloose monetary stimulus lasting over a decade.
Japan's core machinery orders fell 1.7% in January from the previous month.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 18, 2024
Japan core machinery orders fall more than expected
Core orders, a highly volatile data series regarded as a leading indicator of capital spending in the six to nine months ahead, fell 1.7% in January.
The Bank of Japan will decide whether to end its negative interest rate policy at its policy board meeting, which ends on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 18, 2024
BOJ’s Ueda faces decision time on rate hike
With the end of Japan's negative rate being a near certainty, the only question that remains is whether it comes on Tuesday or at the end of April.
Keidanren chief Masakazu Tokura addresses the Liberal Democratic Party's annual convention in Tokyo on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 17, 2024
Japan business lobby chief hopes for government efforts to end deflation
The BOJ may end negative interest rates at its two-day monetary policy meeting through Tuesday, in what could be the first hike in 17 years.
Call loan brokers at Tokyo Tanshi in Tokyo in November. After decades of setting its benchmark rate near zero, the Bank of Japan is poised to tighten, spurring new opportunities for veteran traders after decades of setting its benchmark rate near zero.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 17, 2024
Japan’s $4 trillion offshore funds will ignore first BOJ hike
Only 40% of 273 respondents said the BOJ's first interest-rate hike since 2007 will prompt investors to sell foreign assets and repatriate the proceeds.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo on Thursday
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 15, 2024
BOJ to end negative interest rates at next week's meeting, sources say
The move would be the first rate hike by the central bank in 17 years.
Investors will be heaping ever more scrutiny on Japanese assets, with negative rates potentially relegated to history.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 15, 2024
BlackRock and Man Group reveal big Japan bets before BOJ decision
Snap up more Japanese stocks and keep buying the yen — these are some of the most popular calls from big-name money managers.
Results of spring wage negotiations are written on a board at an office of the Japan Council of Metalworkers' Unions in Tokyo's Chuo Ward on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 13, 2024
Major Japanese firms offering solid pay hikes for second year running
Several companies met or even exceeded labor union demands, raising the possibility the Bank of Japan will adjust monetary policy soon.
Japan's population continues to fall even as foreign resident count rises
The number of residents in Tokyo as of Jan. 1 rose by 0.03% from a year before, data shows, marking a year-on-year increase for the first time in three years, while the country's other 46 prefectures saw their populations continue to decline.
Ahead of the Olympics, Japan is still talking about the gymnast who won't be there
Japan's Shoko Miyata withdrew from the gymnastics team herself over her drinking and smoking, although it had already appeared as though the association was prepared to send her home from the team’s training camp in Monaco.
Yen melt-up nudges Japanese stocks into correction territory
Japanese stocks are down 10% from their July peak as the yen strengthens.
‘Crazy’ yen rally is at risk of shattering as soon as Wednesday
Some investors are warning that a yen rally is fragile, as was on show this week when the yen rapidly retraced an advance after Thursday’s stronger-than-expected U.S. economic growth figures.
Japan's average life expectancy rises for first time in three years
A decline in COVID-19-caused deaths likely helped boost the average life expectancy for Japanese men and women to rise for the first time in three years in 2023.
The Japanese Olympians looking to shine in Paris
Rim Nakamura, who is attempting to win Japan's first Olympic gold medal in cycling, will be one of the top Japanese athletes to watch at the Paris Games.
Japan’s minimum wage set for record ¥50 hike in major boost
Demonstrators rally to demand a big hike in minimum wages in Tokyo last week.
Japan loses top spot on strongest passport list to Singapore
Japan had the strongest passport for six years running from 2018, before being dethroned by Singapore on the 2024 list.
Why Japan's mysterious stash of classified funds escapes scrutiny
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (right) during a meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japan eyes gold — and the future — as Olympic men's soccer campaign begins
Japan midfielder Yu Hirakawa controls the ball during a match against the United States in Kansas City, Kansas, on June 11.

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