++ The Bank of Japan kept the interest rate at 0.5% — the decision was expected. The tone of the accompanying statement is cautiously neutral, leaning towards "dovish". The market reacted with a weakening of the yen: USD/JPY rose to 153.0, then pulled back to around 152.6. Key point: the number of rate hike supporters on the board did not increase and remained the same as at the previous meeting (two members). This increased pressure on the yen as investors were expecting more "hawkish" voices but were disappointed. Now attention is turned to Governor Kuroda's press conference at 15:30 JST.
