Tag - boj

 
 

BOJ

Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks at a news conference following the central bank's policy meeting on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 28, 2025
BOJ watchers think next interest rate hike will be in six months
The central bank is likely to pause a while before bringing the rate up to 0.75%, the highest rate since 1995.
Yoichi Takemura will oversee yen rates and foreign exchange trading for Barclays in Tokyo, bringing nearly two decades of experience in those operations.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 27, 2025
Barclays hires ex-Garda manager Yoichi Takemura as Japan bond market revives
The bank's Japanese investment banking arm posted a record ¥16.5 billion in net profit in 2023, driven by increased client orders to trade yen rate products.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda explains the central bank's decision on its interest rate hike during a news conference after a policy meeting on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Jan 27, 2025
BOJ may revert to fuzzy communication after Fed-style rates clarity
The BOJ fumbled its communication in December, surprising investors, but then telegraphed Friday's increase so unambiguously that the rate hike was 90% priced in.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda attends a news conference after the central bank's policy meeting in Tokyo on Friday. The BOJ raised its rate by a quarter-point to 0.5% that day.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 26, 2025
Japan’s central bank drops the drama and wins on rates
The quarter-point increase, which took the main rate to 0.5%, was probably the most telegraphed this century.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo on Friday
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 25, 2025
Central bank appears poised to break through 0.5% rate barrier this year
The central bank's board voted Friday to increase its target for its short-term policy rate to around 0.5% from around 0.25%.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference after a two-day monetary policy meeting at BOJ headquarters in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jan 25, 2025
BOJ’s clear guidance on rate hike calms markets but may backfire
For some economists, the latest move was too completely priced in, begging the question of how explicitly the BOJ intends to signal its plans in the future.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda had sounded dovish after the central bank's December policy meeting, which led some analysts to say that rate hikes might only emerge in March.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 24, 2025
BOJ takes rates to 0.5% amid calm markets after Trump inauguration
The 25-basis-point move marks the first rate increase since July and takes rates to their highest level since the 2008 global financial crisis.
Service inflation accelerated a tad to 1.6%, while an index excluding energy costs and fresh food prices advanced 2.4%, unchanged from the pace in November.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 24, 2025
Inflation in Japan jumps to 3%, supporting the BOJ's rate-hike case
The solid inflation data support the case for the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates on Friday, a move widely anticipated by markets and economists.
The Bank of Japan is set decide to raise interest rates at a policy meeting on Friday, according to Jiji Press.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 23, 2025
Bank of Japan set to raise rates on Friday, report says
The move would mark the central bank's first rate hike since July last year, when it increased rates to 0.25%.
Instead of the Bank of Japan's actions strengthening the yen as once hoped, recent steps have only caused further weakening.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 22, 2025
Ueda’s doctrine for the BOJ is finally emerging
Instead of the Bank of Japan's actions strengthening the yen as once hoped, recent steps have only caused further weakening.
Masakazu Tokura (second from left), head of Keidanren, holds talks with Rengo leader Tomoko Yoshino (second from right) in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 22, 2025
Japan business lobby cites positive price trend ahead of BOJ decision
Keidanren head Tokura’s comments create a positive backdrop for the BOJ as its board prepares to deliver its policy decision on Friday.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda is still signaling caution ahead of the central bank's January meeting.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 21, 2025
BOJ likely to raise rates this week in absence of immediate Trump tariffs
The possibility is "quite high" if markets remain calm following Trump's inauguration on Monday as the 47th president of the United States.
Many of the economists noted the interest rate hike is likely unless Donald Trump jolts global financial markets, after he returns to the White House four days before the Bank of Japan’s policy decision.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 17, 2025
More than 70% of BOJ watchers expect a rate hike next week
BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda reinforced his deputy’s message this week that his board will consider a rate hike at the meeting, boosting the yen and expectations for action.
The producer price index in 2024 rose 2.3% from the previous year to 122.6, against 100 for the base year of 2020, a Bank of Japan report showed Thursday. The index was up for the fourth year in a row.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 16, 2025
Japan's producer price index hit record high in 2024
The producer price index, which measures the costs of goods traded between companies, rose 2.3% from the previous year to 122.6.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 15, 2025
BOJ’s Ueda joins deputy chief in flagging chance of January hike
Following Ueda’s remarks, the yen strengthened as much as 0.4% to ¥157.34 against the dollar.
Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Ryozo Himino has said that the central bank will raise rates if its outlook continues to be realized.
BUSINESS
Jan 14, 2025
BOJ deputy chief signals chance of rate hike next week
Most BOJ watchers see an interest rate hike coming in either January or March.
The 40-year JGB yield rose as much as 3 basis points to 2.755%, the highest since 2007 when the bonds were sold for the first time.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 14, 2025
Japan’s 40-year yield rises to highest since debut in 2007
Japan’s 20-year yield also rose to its highest since May 2011 this morning after the nation’s markets reopened following a public holiday on Monday.
Consumer spending in Japan has been on a downtrend for months.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 10, 2025
Japan’s household spending falls, weighing on BOJ rate hike path
Outlays adjusted for inflation fell 0.4% in November from a year earlier, led by household durable goods and clothing.
A visitor holds a ¥1,000 banknote to offer a prayer on the first business day of the year at the Kanda Myojin shrine in Tokyo on Monday. The yen has declined against the dollar for four straight years amid a wide gap between interest rates in Japan and the United States.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 10, 2025
Yen intervention risk creeps higher as U.S. jobs report approaches
The yen is within reach of ¥160 per dollar, a breach of which would increase concern about the weak currency’s impact on business and consumers.
Former Bank of Japan board member Makoto Sakurai sees the likelihood of a hike in March as high as 70%, as the central bank may be better off waiting out at least the first couple of months of the new administration of incoming U.S. President Donald Trump.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 9, 2025
Former BOJ board member sees rising chance of March rate hike
Makoto Sakurai says the central bank may wait out at least the first couple of months of the new administration of incoming U.S. President Donald Trump.

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Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan