The Bank of Japan fell in Asian trade against a basket of major rivals and extended the losses for the third straight session against the dollar, about to hit multi-week lows after the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting.
The Bank of Japan voted to hold interest rates unchanged at 0.5% at this week’s meeting, already the highest since 2008 as expected by most analysts.
The Price
The USD/JPY price rose 0.3% today to 145.11 yen per dollar, with a session-low at 144.40.
The yen lost 0.45% on Monday against the dollar, marking the second loss in a row as the markets shrugged off Israel-Iran military strikes.
BOJ
As expected, the Bank of Japan voted to hold interest rates unchanged at 0.5% at this week’s meeting, already the highest since 200.
The vote to maintain rates was unanimous by all nine members of the Bank of Japan’s governing board.
Bond Purchases
The BOJ didn’t enact any changes to its gradual reduction of government purchases, amounting to a 400 billion yen cut every quarter until March 2026.
Starting April 2026, the BOJ will cut its bond purchases by 200 billion yen a quarter, with an aim at reducing the bank’s government bond holdings by 16-17% by March 2027 compared to June 2024.
Policy Statement
The BOJ asserted it’ll keep raising interest rates if inflation and economic outlook holds steady.
The bank warned against ongoing economic risks, especially the impact of global tariffs on the economy and inflation, with the bank standing ready to intervene in case long-term interest rates rose too quickly.
Japanese Rates
The current odds of a 0.25% BOJ interest rate hike in July fell to below 25%.
Now traders await fresh Japanese data on inflation, wages, and unemployment to gather more clues.
