Financial market participants have been anxious to get more hints on what the Bank of Japan will do next to spur inflation, as the central bank is widely expected to stand pat at its two-day policy meeting through Tuesday.
The bank decided at its September meeting to shift its policy target to the yield curve instead of quantitative easing, while effectively giving up achieving its 2 percent inflation goal during Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda's tenure, which ends in April 2018.
Such moves have prompted many BOJ watchers to believe that the bank is unlikely to carry out additional monetary easing measures for the time being, as it appears to have finished preparing for a long-term battle to attain the inflation goal.