The Nikkei Average surged on November 9 as investors reacted positively to the new U.S. administration as it began to lay the groundwork for the next four years. Still there are many unknowns about the policy stance of the new U.S. administration, and the risk of the COVID-19 pandemic flaring up again continues to smolder. Coincidently, the Bank of Japan continues to buy assets and will certainly maintain monetary easing. Japanese companies and investors have not yet reacted to these developments judging by Dollar / Yen cross-currency basis and Yen swap rates that have moved only slightly.
In this episode, MUFG’s Chief Japan Strategist, Takahiro Sekido, analyzes the October monetary base data and discusses USD fund-supplying operations as well as the “Summary of Opinions” from the October BoJ meeting. He also updates his views for Dollar / Yen, yen rate, and Dollar / Yen cross-currency basis.