The Bank of Japan’s monetary policy meeting held earlier today saw interest rates and the central bank’s QQE purchases remaining unchanged as expected. The board members voted 8 -1 to keep monetary policy unchanged while keeping the government bond holdings steady at 80 trillion yen.
The BoJ Governor Kuroda is expected to hold a press conference later in the day. In the overnight session, New Zealand’s GDP data showed a 0.6% increase in the third quarter as expected. The second quarter GDP was revised higher to show a 1.0% increase on the quarter. On a yearly basis, New Zealand’s GDP was seen rising 2.4%.
In the U.S. trading session, the dollar was muted to the news of the Congress passing the tax reforms bill. On the economic front, the NAR reported that existing home sales rose 5.6% on the month in November.
Looking ahead, the economic calendar today will see the inflation data from Canada. The U.S. department of commerce will be releasing the final GDP for the third quarter which is expected to be confirmed at 3.3%.
