Flash Notes

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) announced policy changes for its second consecutive monetary policy decision after the markets had builtup expectations for more monetary stimulus and yet at the same time, an equally pessimistic expectation that BOJ will not succeedno matter what it announces today. As of writing (21 Sep, 5pm SG time), the new measurements seemed to have done just enoughas the Nikkei 225 index closed up +1.9% (before Kuroda’s press conference), the 10-year JGB yield briefly returned to positive (butended at -0.028%, up 3.5bps) while the USD/JPY touched a high of 102.78 (but has drifted lower below 102 as of 5pm SG time, belowthe pre-announcement level of 101.94).