The Japanese yen fell on Wednesday morning after the Bank of Japan decided to stick with ultra-easy monetary policy, discouraging many economists who believed the central bank would further adjust its yield curve management policy. The Bank of Japan surprised markets at its meeting last month by raising the limit on the 10-year yield to 0.5 percent from 0.25 percent and doubling the range it would allow above or below the zero target. Since then, there has been speculation that the Bank of Japan could make further changes to its yield curve guidance (YCC) policy. The Japanese yen weakened about 2.06% against the US dollar to close near 130.80 on Wednesday, one of the biggest one-day declines since June. The dollar index rose about 0.352% to trade near 102.750. “The canister is out of the way and the focus is on the next meeting,” says Moh Siong Sim, currency strategist at Bank of Singapore. “It’s a question of when not if.” In stock news, major US stock futures were slightly weaker late Tuesday, with Dow Jones Industrial Average futures down about 37 points, S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures about 0.28% and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.22%. Separately, Moderna shares rose more than 6% in hours after the vaccinator said a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus could prevent the disease in older adults. In the regular session of Tuesday, the Dow lost about 391 points, while the shares of Goldman Sachs – which weighed the main index – fell after the bank missed profit expectations. , The SandP 500 lost about 0.20%, while the technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite was the only gainer, adding about 0.1 %. Market moves followed earnings reports from major US banks, showing mixed progress even for companies in the same sector. Goldman Sachs’ share price fell more than six percent due to a decline in investment banking and wealth management. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley’s share price rose about 5.9%, supported by better-than-expected wealth management earnings. “This is a really important earnings season to determine if and how long companies can weather the storm,” SoF’s Liz Young commented on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime” on Tuesday. “I still believe that we are in a state where bad news tends to enter the market. And that assumes that means the Fed will slow down, the Fed will stop, the Fed will reverse, the Fed will stop sooner than they say. And I think we’ve over-indexed the Fed right now. It’s not just about the central bank anymore,” Young added. Market participants await further economic data from the US on Wednesday, with the latest on retail sales and the producer price index. Oil prices rose early on Wednesday, adding to gains sustained. Due to the transition from China’s zero-covid-19 policy and hopes to boost energy demand in one of the world’s biggest oil importers , Brent crude added about 76 cents to $86.68 a barrel by 0721 GMT after rising 1.7 percent to $86 .68 a barrel in the previous session, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose about 85 cents and were up nearly 0. percent. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said in its monthly report that Chinese oil demand could grow by 510,000 barrels a day this year after falling for the first time in years in 2022 due to COVID-19 restrictions. However, OPEC left its global demand forecast for 2023 unchanged at 2.22 million bpd. “Hope is rising that China’s fuel demand will pick up following a recent change in policy from COVID-19 supported oil prices,” Fujitomi Securities Co Ltd said. analyst Toshitaka Tazawa. “OPEC’s optimistic view on Chinese demand also supported market sentiment,” he said, referring to the week’s bullish tone.
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