Market Briefing: Fright Before Christmas Stirs Creatures in FX Markets
Santa Claus might not come this year. The jolly old elf—known for putting gifts in the stockings of good little boys and girls across the financial markets each December—was shot down over Tokyo last night by a central banker wielding a monetary policy-guided surface-to-air missile. His condition is unknown at this time. In a surprise decision, the Bank of Japan increased the upper limit for its ten-year government bond target from 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent, almost doubling effective interest rates in one of the world’s most important funding currencies. Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the move was aimed at reducing...