Themes

• General mood is “risk off”
• BoJ leaves monetary policy unchanged as expected
• Fed’s Waller: Fed not looking for a 50bpo rise in March

What’s Moving

It was a little busier in Asia today, but not much.

The Bank of Japan left Japanese monetary policy unchanged, as was widely expected and had little impact on trade.

U.S. Treasury yields rose slightly after Fed’s Waller mentioned that the Fed was not looking for a 50bp rise in March, which saw some buying of USD across most of the majors. USD/JPY also rose on continued concerns about a State of Emergency being called in Tokyo amid growing Covid numbers.

Oil prices also rose again in Asia, with Brent oil hitting its highest level since 2014 on supply concerns.