Peter Sengelmann on Japan

ON JAPAN

ING IM's Peter Sengelmann looks at the Bank of Japan's recent move to unleash aggressive stimulus measures, and considers its impact on the bond markets.

It seems every time positive sentiment starts to shift capital away from bonds, some event causes investors to step in and buy on the dips. The latest major event that reversed the gradual ascent of interest rates was the Bank of Japan (BoJ)’s unprecedented level of quantitative easing (QE). Much like the US Federal Reserve’s bond buying programme, the BoJ’s announcement gave a healthy bid to bond yields. But these unconventional central bank measures, including those of the European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England (BoE), could impact rates negatively once they are closed. In t...