BOJ

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.3% to a two-month low, with banks and Hong Kong tech stocks leading losses, while London and European futures each slid more than 1%

The dollar index, which measures the safe-haven dollar against six peers including the yen, fell 0.4% at 102.01

The central bank kept its policy settings for yield curve control and asset purchases, according to a statement on Friday, in line with the forecasts of almost all surveyed economists

After touching a six-year low of 122.44 per dollar in the morning, by the Tokyo afternoon the yen had snapped a five-day losing streak and was up as far at 1% to 121.18

New Fed projections showed policymakers ready to shift their inflation fight into high gear; most of them see the federal funds rate rising to a range between 1.75% and 2% by the end of 2022

Any such change won't lead to an immediate policy tightening and would mark only a subtle shift in the nine-member board, which has consistently voted to keep policy ultra-loose

The BOJ said last week it would buy an unlimited amount of 10-year government bonds at 0.25% to prevent rising global yields from pushing up domestic borrowing costs too much

The world's third-largest economy is seeing a resurgence in COVID-19 infections

The BOJ is in a bind

Japan's central bank has essentially abandoned an earlier pledge to meet the goal in roughly 2 yrs

The BOJ maintained its view that the world's third-largest economy will expand moderately

BOJ maintained its assessment for six areas to say their economies continued to recover moderately

Six of the nine BoJ regional branch managers said their areas' economies continued to recover moderately

The BoJ's quarterly report is due out on November 1 after a two-day policy board meeting

The BOJ last month switched its policy to target interest rates and away from expanding the monetary base

Kuroda also said there will be no significant changes in the management of the central bank's balance sheet

To hit its 2% inflation target as soon as possible

The dollar weakened 1.5% to 103.67 yen, its biggest one-day decline since June 24, after the Brexit

BOJ is likely to cut its inflation forecasts, but only slightly, which may allow the bank to justify standing pat for the time being

An unwelcome yen rise and weak consumption threatened to derail a fragile economic recovery.