BOJ holds off on further monetary easing, dismaying markets

Tokyo

THE yen leapt against the dollar and the euro while Tokyo stock prices slumped on Thursday, on the back of the Policy Board of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) disappointing market expectations by holding off further monetary stimulus, even amid a slowing Japanese economy and headwinds buffeting the global economy.

The central bank's nine-member board voted by an eight-to-one majority to keep the BOJ's current quantitative and qualitative easing (QQE) programme, and decided against pushing interest rates further into negative territory.