Central bankers will keep investors on alert in the coming days, with the Bank of Japan, the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England all due to meet, while Apple tops the bill for earnings on both sides of the Atlantic.Japanese national flag is hoisted atop the headquarters of Bank of Japan in Tokyo on Sept. 20.It’s no secret that the Bank of Japan has a penchant for surprises, making Halloween Tuesday a fitting day for its policy announcement.
Governor Kazuo Ueda has insisted the bank will take a patient approach to removing stimulus, but markets will remember his comments from late July about maintaining accommodative policy - just days before the last surprise tweak.Brittany Peterson/The Associated Press Results already in from megacaps have prompted a mixed reaction, with shares of Alphabet and Tesla slumping after their respective reports.
Signs that policymakers still intend to keep rates around current levels through next year could bolster bets on further upside in Treasury yields, whose climb to their highest levels in more 15 years has contributed to a sharp sell-off in the S&P500. Ahead of the MPC’s first meeting of 2023, inflation was running at 10.1%, GDP showed 1% year-on-year growth and interest rates were at 3.5%. Fast forward to now, and year-on-year growth has halved, rates are at 5.25% and inflation is still high at 6.7% - well above 4.3% in the euro zone and 3.7% in the United States.