This past Friday, Japan became another country to introduce negative interest rates. This occasion marks the first time Japan's central bank set a negative rate in an increasingly desperate attempt to prevent the country from sliding into deflationary territory.
The yen fell as much as 2.1% following the announcement, hitting 121.33 to the dollar. The Nikkei Stock Average seesawed before closing up 2.8%. Some government bonds saw rates turn more deeply negative. The two- and five-year yield fell to their most negative yet, both hitting as low as 0.085%.
I also thought this was a particularly interesting graphic from the article--
That is some serious QE that they went through, very curious to see how this all turns out for Japan and what it means that their asset ownership is so drastically high (especially in comparison to other eased nations.)
The article also mentions the effect the BOJ's move will have on interest rates here in the U.S-- will an increasingly bleak outlook for the rest of the global economy push back the rate hike so many were expecting to soon be upon us?
