BLOOMBERG When the European Central Bank (ECB) sets interest rates, attention will be on the increasingly acrimonious path that lies ahead. Despite its insistence on decisions being taken “meeting by meeting,” investors have grown accustomed to getting a preview of where borrowing costs are likely to head in the ensuing weeks and even months. But with officials bickering over how ...

BLOOMBERG The pain in the US banking sector may turn out to be a blessing for incoming Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda. Yield on Japan’s benchmark 10-year government note dropped below 0.3% for the first time since the BOJ unexpectedly doubled the yield cap to 0.5% on December 20. The move came in the wake of a slide ...

BLOOMBERG The troubles at Silicon Valley Bank and its subsequent collapse have driven investor attention to the heavy investment in US bonds by Japan’s lenders, casting a pall over their shares. SVB’s woes have been rooted in tens of billions of dollars it plowed into longer-term bonds, confident that rates would stay steady. Japanese banks have also stepped up investment ...