Now that the U.S. Presidential and Congressional election results have been confirmed, the U.S. yield curve is likely to steepen over the near-term. Japanese investors will have to adjust their developed economy bond portfolios, not only with U.S. Treasuries, but also European bonds and JGBs. Developed economy stock markets have reacted favorably to the confirmation of results of the U.S. elections. The BoJ’s ETF purchases are clearly helping to drive the Nikkei Average upward. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic is growing more serious and on January 7, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a state of emergency for the Tokyo area. The spotlight will be on the government and BoJ’s pandemic support measures, and investor behavior could change. Understanding fiscal and monetary policy will be key to prognosticating the next trend for JPY cross assets.
In today’s episode, MUFG Chief Japan Strategist, Takahiro Sekido, discusses developments with fiscal financing, the BoJ’s monetary operations, and the monetary base in December and what they could mean for the BoJ's monetary policy review in March. He also shares his outlooks for USDJPY, cross-currency basis, and JPY rate.
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