TOKYO: Tokyo shares shot up and the yen sank after the Bank of Japan tweaked its policy measures Wednesday, as it ramped up its attempts to kickstart inflation. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.37 percent as investors embraced the central bank’s moves to defeat deflation. After a two-day meeting, BoJ policymakers set a target to raise government bond yields as part of their drive to kickstart inflation. The bank pledged to keep up monetary easing as needed to hit a 2.0 percent inflation target – prices are nowhere near that level more than three years after the ambitious goal was set. Banks stocks were among the big gainers as the bank held off pushing interest rates further into negative territory.

Source: New Strait Times September 21, 2016 05:48 UTC