BOJ disappoints markets by relative lack of action

Tokyo

THE Bank of Japan (BOJ) dashed market hopes of bold new actions on Friday by opting for only a marginal increase in monetary easing while announcing its intention to conduct a comprehensive assessment of developments in economic activity and prices, which appeared to open the door to possible future policy actions of a more radical nature.

The central bank's Policy Board announced at the end of a two-day meeting that it was leaving policy unchanged except for a pledge to double the BOJ's purchases of exchange-traded funds in order to "reduce risk premiums" in the equity market.

Lack of other actions (other than a plan to increase dollar funding for Japanese firms operating overseas in the wake of the Brexit shock) left markets disappointed and confused, causi…