The much-awaited government package of measures to fight deflation has been unveiled, but the market's reaction has been muted as the content settled well within the range of expectations.
Now that the package is out of the way, the market is turning its attention to the government's anticipated followup action. The package came close on the heels of last week's Japan-U.S. summit in Tokyo, in which investors found few reasons to take major positions.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and U.S. President George W. Bush only exchanged pep talks, sidestepping the question of how Tokyo intends to keep the domestic economy from sliding into a deflationary spiral.