Kyodo News says that on the Friday the Bank of Japan raised its policy rate to 1.25% from 1.0%, the dollar climbed about 1 yen into the lower 157 range and the Nikkei 225 closed up 1.38%. CNA reports Governor Kazuo Ueda telling his post-meeting news conference that underlying inflation is quite close to 2% and that October's quarterly report will try to quantify the hikes. Two of nine board members opposed the move, Kyodo wrote.
Kyodo News dates the Friday decision: policy rate to 1.25% from 1.0%. Two of nine policy-board members opposed the hike, which traders read as a sign of government reluctance toward further increases, Kyodo said. CNA's Ueda comments sit on that same post-meeting news conference. Those figures and proper names sit in that same-day article and attach to this event only.[2], [1]
CNA reports Ueda saying underlying inflation is now quite close to 2 per cent and the goal is to have this stabilise. The bank would seek to quantify the impact of rate hikes in the next quarterly report in October. If renewed energy costs persist, that could add pressure to wholesale then consumer inflation. He said the bank does not guide policy to hold the currency in a range. Those figures and proper names sit in that same-day article and attach to this event only.[1], [2]
Kyodo says the dollar climbed by around 1 yen to the lower 157 yen range, a two-week high. The Nikkei 225 closed 1.38% higher at 65,018.95 after a brief 2% jump. The Topix closed 0.07% lower. Masafumi Yamamoto of Mizuho Securities said the dissent was not a surprise and the outcome may be seen as dovish because there were no arguments about a larger hike. Ueda said big or consecutive hikes would need very large inflation risks. Those figures and proper names sit in that same-day article and attach to this event only.[2], [1]
