Bank of Japan Holds Rates Steady, Kazuo Ueda's Afternoon Speech Highly Anticipated!

TradingKey - The Bank of Japan kept its interest rate unchanged at 0.5%, leading to a slight rebound in Japanese stocks, while Governor Kazuo Ueda's afternoon speech became the market's focus.  

On Wednesday, the Bank of Japan unanimously decided to maintain the interest rate at 0.5%, in line with market expectations. The report stated that although some areas remain weak, the Japanese economy is recovering moderately.

Following the Bank of Japan's decision, Japanese stocks rose. As of press time, the Nikkei 225 index was up 0.69% at 38,107 points, while the TOPIX index gained over 1% to 2,812 points.

Nikkei 225 Index Chart, Source: Google.

At 2:30 PM this afternoon, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda will hold a press conference. The market's focus will be on his views regarding the risks posed by U.S. President Trump's trade tariff policies to Japan's economy and whether the Bank of Japan will adjust the pace and schedule of future rate decisions.

According to public information, the Bank of Japan has five more rate decision meetings this year, scheduled for May 1, June 17, July 30, September 19, October 30, and December 19.