No intention from Ueda to hint at timing of policy change – report

<p>There are quite a number of things to note in this report <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/softening-consumption-may-delay-bojs-exit-easy-policy-2023-12-08/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">here</a> by Reuters. The first is one of the sources stating that "there was no intention to signal anything about the timing of a policy change" amid remarks from BOJ governor Ueda yesterday. Adding that his comments were taken out of context by markets and was not meant to signal an imminent policy shift.</p><p>Then, the sources also claim that recent weakness in consumption has emerged as a point of concern for the central bank in trying to take that step to normalise policy. This is mainly due to the fact that firms could start cutting prices again in response to weakened domestic demand.</p><p>And the final thing to note is that the sources say that while the BOJ is eyeing an exit from ultra easy policy, "an early exit will be out the window". The central bank will instead stick with the status quo "until this positive wage-inflation cycle kicks off".</p><p>That's probably one reason why the Japanese yen has been relatively tame in trading today, even trading down 0.2% against the dollar at 144.38 at the moment. The chart still points to USD/JPY sellers staying in control though, after long positions have been squeezed hard in trading yesterday.</p>

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.