Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda on Friday led a divided board to expand what was already an unprecedentedly large monetary stimulus program, boosting stocks and sending the yen tumbling.
Kuroda, 70, and four of his eight fellow board members voted to raise the BOJ's annual target for enlarging the monetary base to ¥80 trillion, up from ¥60 to ¥70 trillion, the central bank said in Tokyo. The BOJ also cut its forecasts for consumer prices.
The surprise move sent Tokyo stocks soaring, with the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gaining a whopping 755.56 points, or 4.83 percent, from Thursday to close at 16,413.76, its highest finish since Nov. 2, 2007.