- In Asian trading on Wednesday, stocks were mixed, while the yen fell around 2% and benchmark Japanese government bond yields rose after the central bank left its main settings unchanged.
- Japan and Hong Kong stocks climbed, but mainland Chinese stocks varied and South Korean shares declined.
- After the BoJ's policy meeting, futures contracts for the S&P 500 reversed falls and treasury yields fell. The S&P 500 ended a 4-day rise on Tuesday, signalling that the strongest start to a year for global equities in a generation was cooling.
- The yen has dropped the most since June of last year. While economists anticipated BoJ's Governor Kuroda to remain silent for the time being, traders have been putting policymakers to the test. For the fourth day in a row, the benchmark 10-yr Japanese government bond yield exceeded the central bank's target ceiling of 0.5%.
- 10-yr Treasury yields fell nearly seven basis points to 3.47%. The dollar index rose after bouncing in and out of negative territory in early Asian trade.