Stocks slide as higher-for-longer sinks in; yen drops on BOJ

Singapore, Sept. 22 (BNA): Stocks eyed their worst week in a month on Friday and Treasuries hit decade lows as investors hunkered down for U.S. interest rates to stay high for some time, while the yen was pinned near an 11-month trough after the Bank of Japan left short-term rates below zero.

 

Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields hit a 16-year high of 4.508% in Tokyo. Thirty-year yields hit their highest in a dozen years, Reuters reported.

 

MSCI’s index of global equities was flat, with a 2.6% drop for the week so far.

 

MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares ex-Japan touched a 10-month low before bouncing 0.5% on vows in China to support private business. It is down 2.8% this week.

 

The Bank of Japan (BOJ), as expected, maintained super-low interest rates and left its outlook and yield control policy unchanged to signal it was in no hurry to end massive stimulus.

 

The yen fell about 0.4% to 148.12 per dollar after the announcement but stopped short of Thursday’s 11-month low, with traders extra wary of intervention after the BOJ noted it was watching the impact of FX moves on Japan’s economy.

 

 

ZH