Business / Financial Markets Nov 24, 2020
Big investors in Japan may be cashing in on global stock rally
by Masaki Kondo
Japanese funds have reaped a 27% return as a stimulus-fueled rally propelled global equities to a record high.
Business / Financial Markets Oct 19, 2020
Tumble in global bond yields sees Japan insurers slash purchases
by Chikako Mogi
Net purchases of medium- to long-term foreign bonds by insurers were the lowest for an April to September period since 2013, according to ministry data.
Business / Financial Markets Aug 18, 2020
Bank of Japan refuses trader requests to work from home
by Takashi Nakamichi and Takako Taniguchi
The central bank doesn’t allow home computers to connect to its network for conducting asset purchases, raising concerns at financial firms as virus cases in Tokyo surge.
Business / Financial Markets | ANALYSIS Mar 26, 2020
Fallout from the coronavirus outbreak may finally lift the curse of the safe-haven yen for Japan, but policymakers fear fiscal laxity could lead to a freefall for the currency eventually, undermining efforts to cushion the economy from the pandemic. The yen, which investors typically snap ...
Business / Financial Markets Mar 19, 2020
The Bank of Japan carried out an emergency market operation on Thursday, purchasing ¥1.3 trillion ($12 billion) of government bonds in a bid to curb rising long-term yields. The central bank said the operation was aimed at stabilizing the debt market given its recent volatility. The ...
Business / Financial Markets Feb 10, 2020
Japanese asset manager awaits flood of money from regional banks
by Taiga Uranaka and Yuki Hagiwara
Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings Inc. anticipates a flood of money from yield-starved regional banks that need help reinvesting cash after redeeming government bonds. A year-old SBI unit that invests on behalf of local banks should see assets at least doubling to ¥300 billion ($2.7 ...
Business Nov 8, 2019
Finance Minister Taro Aso indicated a new openness to introducing 50-year government bonds, days after the country's central bank chief suggested such a move could be helpful. "This is one topic of our considerations," Aso told reporters Friday in Tokyo when asked about the potential ...
Business / Financial Markets | FOCUS Aug 22, 2018
Bank of Japan's threat to global bonds fizzles as Japanese insurers stay put
by Chikafumi Hodo and Komaki Ito
For all the frenzy over the Bank of Japan's first policy tweak in almost two years, little seems to have changed for the nation's insurers. That's because the rise in long-end government bond yields seen after the central bank's July 31 decision has proved to ...
Business / Financial Markets Mar 30, 2018
Bank of Japan's bid to taper by stealth made tougher by supercharged yen
by Chikako Mogi
The Bank of Japan is finding out just how hard it is to be stealthy — when everyone is looking right at you. The central bank looks set to end this fiscal year well behind on its target for government bond purchases. But having inadvertently ...
Business / Economy Mar 5, 2018
BOJ chief faces tougher second term as reality of monetary easing program sinks in
by Reiji Yoshida and Cory Baird
Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda will face more severe challenges from the central bank’s radical strategy for stoking 2 percent inflation and plans to unwind it.
Business Feb 23, 2018
With Kuroda staying at the BOJ, Japanese firms rush to issue long debt
Japanese companies are selling superlong bonds amid expectations that Haruhiko Kuroda's reappointment as central bank governor will prolong easy monetary policy, even as increases in overseas yields put pressure on domestic market rates to rise. Less than a week after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe nominated ...
Business / Economy Jun 28, 2017
BOJ keeps snapping up debt, but pace of bond purchases slowing
The Bank of Japan continued its spending spree on government debt, although the pace of increase has slowed dramatically since the introduction of yield-curve control in September 2016. The central bank owned 39.5 percent of Japan's bonds and Treasury bills, up from 13.1 percent when ...