JP:8301

TOKYO—The Bank of Japan ‘s governor expressed confidence that he could prevail in a standoff with markets over his cap on government bond yields, but some analysts remained skeptical.The bank on Wednesday dashed market expectations for another policy change and maintained its cap for the yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds at 0.5% after it raised the ceiling on Dec. 20 from 0.25%. Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda denied that the central bank he has led for nearly a…

TOKYO—The Bank of Japan is under pressure to revise policy again at its meeting ending Wednesday after investors repeatedly attacked the central bank’s new 0.5% cap for the 10-year government bond yield.The battle between the BOJ and the markets has upended what are expected to be the final months of Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda ‘s decade in the job. He has devoted his term to keeping interest rates ultralow, a policy that many market players believe is likely to end…

TOKYO—The Bank of Japan made a surprise decision to let a benchmark interest rate rise to 0.5% from 0.25%, pushing the yen higher and ending a long period in which it was the only major developed-nation central bank not to increase rates.The BOJ said the yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond could rise as high as 0.5% from a previous cap of 0.25%. The central bank has set a target range around zero for the benchmark government bond yield since 2016 and used that as a tool to keep…

The country now finds itself in a dilemma. Inflation is rising, the yen plummeting, and some economists and corporate executives blame the negative rate policy for eroded competitiveness and undisciplined government spending. All that has put pressure on the Bank of Japan to finally raise rates. But Tokyo’s three-decades-old effort to shore up its stagnant economy and fight deflation with hefty deficit spending has pushed government debt to the highest among major…

TOKYO—Japan intervened in the foreign-exchange market by buying yen for the first time in 24 years, shortly after the Bank of Japan accelerated a fall in the currency by confirming it would maintain ultralow interest rates. The rare intervention was the latest example of global concern triggered by the strong dollar, which has gained ground on the back of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate increases. One nation hit by the fallout is Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, which has to pay…

TOKYO—The yen is near its lowest level against the dollar in nearly a quarter-century, but Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said Thursday he wasn’t inclined to fight the market to push the Japanese currency higher.“Any small rate increases will unlikely stop the yen’s depreciation,” Mr. Kuroda said at a news conference after the Japanese central bank renewed its commitment to ultralow interest rates. “If we want to stop the yen’s fall only by interest rates,…