Japan Stocks Rise After Wild Swings on BOJ Negative Rate Move

  • Volumes on indexes jump by more than 90% on 30-day average
  • Confusion reigns among investors after surprise rate action
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Japanese stocks jumped, plunged and then soared again as investors struggled to decipher the central bank’s surprise move to adopt a negative interest rate.

The Topix rose 2.9 percent to close at 1,432.07 in Tokyo, gyrating between gains of more than 3 percent and a loss of 1.6 percent in the half hour after the Bank of Japan announcement. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 2.8 percent to 17,518.30 after similar swings. Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s board voted 5-4 to adopt an interest rate of minus 0.1 percent on a portion of current accounts held by financial institutions at the central bank. The yen weakened 1.4 percent to 120.48 per dollar.