Dec 20 (Reuters) - Tokyo players are criticising Thursday's Bank of Japan decision to leave policy on hold, indecisiveness over future policy and Governor Kazuo Ueda's poor communication in the post-meeting press conference.
Ueda not only refused to answer many questions from reporters but also failed to communicate why the BOJ decided to forego a rate hike despite increasingly good fundamentals supporting such a move. Indeed, overall and core November CPI out Friday proved stronger than expectations and well above the BOJ's 2% target.
The governor's comments merely cited "uncertainties" for not taking action. These included vague references to wage hikes in April 2025 and U.S. policies with the ascendancy of another Trump administration.
On wages, Ueda noted that there may not be enough information in January to make any definitive decision on policy, suggesting possible inaction until March-April, and this despite a stated hawkish bias recently.
Some ironic Tokyo players muse that the BOJ even provided the catalyst for renewed yen weakness given the central bank's obliviousness towards market reaction to its inaction and vague talk from the governor.
USD/JPY surged Wednesday following the more hawkish shift in U.S. Federal Reserve policy and extended the rally Thursday on the BOJ's rate-hold and apparent indecisiveness. USD/JPY traded to 157.93 in Asia Friday from a low of 154.45 ahead of the BOJ.
Firmer U.S. Treasury yields and softening in JGB yields has also left JGB-Treasury rate differentials at recent wides with the spread in two-year and 10-year paper around 375 and 352 basis points, respectively.
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(Haruya Ida is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own. Editing by Sonali Desai)
((haruya.ida@thomsonreuters.com;))
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