The Bank of Japan is on track to book the smallest amount of local equity purchase this year, much lower than last year’s record haul seen during the pandemic peak, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Key details

‘The BOJ purchased a total of 873.4 billion yen ($7.6 billion) in exchange-traded funds through Dec. 27.”

“That’s a fraction of the 7.1 trillion yen it bought last year to support the market and would be the smallest annual purchase since 2012.”

“Investors will now likely focus their attention on what the BOJ will do with the 50 trillion yen of ETFs it has accumulated over the years.”

Market reaction

USD/JPY is trading at 114.75, retreating from five-week highs of 114.94 reached earlier in the Asian trades.

The spot is down 0.07% on the day.