The Bank of Japan raised interest rates as scheduled, and the market is concerned about whether the Ueda Kazuo conference will provide guidance on the path of interest rate hikes

On January 24th, the Bank of Japan raised interest rates to 0.5% on Friday, in line with market consensus expectations, reflecting the bank's growing optimism that wages will continue to rise and inflation will continue to stay near its 2% target. The BoJ's rate hike is the third in less than a year and takes the policy rate to its highest level since 2008. The committee voted 8:1 to raise interest rates. Commissioner Toshiaki Nakamura opposed the decision to raise interest rates. Reports earlier on Friday showed that the CPI, excluding fresh food, rose by 3%, well above the BoJ's inflation target. After the resolution was announced, the dollar/yen fluctuated wildly. The decision to raise interest rates is good news for the beleaguered yen. The yen has been weighed down by wide interest rate differentials between the US and Japan after the Federal Reserve signalled a slowdown in monetary easing, with a focus now on whether Mr. Ueda will give any hints at the pace of future rate rises at his afternoon press conference.