The Bank of Japan held rates as expected but said it would accelerate sales of its exchange-traded funds, shortening the time to unwind its holdings from 112 years to 43. Global stocks fell while government bond yields declined.
The Bank of Japan kept interest rates unchanged and said it would accelerate the sale of its exchange-traded funds. The revised pace means it would take 43 years to unwind all its ETF purchases, compared with 112 years at the previous rate. The BOJ had spent 37.19 trillion yen on ETF purchases through March 2024.
Asian markets extended Wall Street’s technology-sector decline. Japan’s Nikkei fell as much as 3%, while China’s CSI300 was headed for its largest monthly drop in a decade. US 10-year Treasury yields fell more than 7 basis points in Tokyo trading, and the 10-year Japanese government bond yield dropped 5.5 basis points to 2.780%. US stock futures fell 0.89%.
Markets expect the BOJ’s next rate increase in December or January after its September hike to 1.25%, a 31-year high. Friday’s calendar includes US and European company earnings, euro zone and national GDP releases, and inflation data from France and Germany.
