The Bank of Japan may need to do more on the monetary policy front to stop deflation, the Nikkei daily quoted Japan's Finance Minister Naoto Kan as saying, keeping pressure on the BOJ to help support a fragile economic recovery.
Global stock markets fell again on Wednesday, hitting their lowest in two months as investors fretted about a monetary squeeze from central banks around the world and also the impact of tightening U.S. banking regulation.
The U.S. Federal Reserve's balance sheet rose to a record level in the latest week, boosted by its ongoing efforts to support the mortgage market, Fed data released on Thursday showed.
The Bank of England kept the scale of its asset purchase programme unchanged at 200 billion pounds ($319 billion) on Thursday and said it would decide whether or not to extend it next month.
The Bank of England committed to one more month of asset purchases under its 200 billion pound ($318 billion) quantitative easing policy on Thursday, as widely expected, and kept interest rates at a record-low 0.5 percent.
(James Saft is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own)
The Federal Reserve, at a meeting this week, will likely close out the year by repeating a pledge to keep interest rates extraordinarily low for an extended period even as it nods to signs of economic healing.
The Bank of England left its asset purchase programme intact at 200 billion pounds ($325 billion) and held interest rates at 0.5 percent on Thursday, as widely expected.
The Bank of England left its asset purchase programme intact at 200 billion pounds ($325 billion) and held interest rates at 0.5 percent on Thursday, as widely expected.
Gold struck its third straight peak in as many days on Thursday because of its investor appeal as a safe asset while Asian stocks advanced as the appetite for risky assets remained strong despite Wall Street's dip.
A Bank of Japan policymaker signaled on Wednesday the central bank was open to adopting more measures to support the economy following its emergency meeting the previous day that offered extra short-term funding.
The yen weakened broadly on Wednesday as traders took Japan's new monetary policy measures unveiled the previous day as a cue to sell, while mixed signals from stocks and commodities kept the dollar in check.
The Bank of Japan offered banks more short-term funds after an emergency meeting on Tuesday, relieving government pressure on the central bank to help avert another recession before upper house polls next year.
The yen fell broadly on Tuesday after the Bank of Japan announced more monetary policy easing measures to fight deflation and help the ailing economy, while holding interest rates at 0.1 percent.
The Bank of Japan offered banks more short-term funds after an emergency meeting on Tuesday, relieving government pressure on the central bank to help avert another recession before upper house polls next year.
The Bank of Japan offered banks more short-term funds after an emergency meeting on Tuesday, winning an immediate reprieve from government pressure to help avert recession before upper house polls next year.
Worries about Dubai's debt slipped away on financial markets on Tuesday, allowing stocks to put in solid gains and weakening low-yield assets such as the dollar.
The yen tumbled on Tuesday after the Bank of Japan called an emergency policy review to discuss ways to boost the ailing economy, but it regained some ground after the meeting when the central bank did not go as far as some investors had expected.
The governor of the Bank of Japan said the bank will act decisively in the event of renewed financial market turmoil, his strongest hint yet at fresh support for the economy that analysts say could involve buying more government bonds or a return to quantitative easing.
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa will meet next week, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said, as a surging yen adds to debate over central bank policy.
Japanese cabinet ministers piled yet more pressure on the Bank of Japan on Tuesday to respond to deflation, with one saying the central bank was asleep at the wheel.
A senior Federal Reserve official said on Sunday the central bank should keep alive a mortgage-backed securities buying program beyond a planned end-date to give policy-makers more flexibility as they help the economy recover from a painful recession.
