{
  "id": 17183796,
  "title": "Morning Bid: One last central bank surprise",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/30/morning-bid-one-last-central-bank-surprise",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-30T05:42:34.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Investing.com",
    "slug": "investing-com",
    "url": "https://www.investing.com/news/economy-news/morning-bid-one-last-central-bank-surprise-4985824"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Bank of Japan concluded a week marked by central bank surprises by maintaining its expected decision on interest rates, though it announced plans to accelerate the sale of its stock holdings. The central bank revealed it would unwind its purchases of Japanese exchange-traded funds at a pace of 43 years, down from the previous estimated 112 years. This shift aims to hasten the unwinding process of the 37.19 trillion yen the BOJ spent between March 2024 to accelerate Japan's stock market recovery. After a 31-year high rate hike in September, markets anticipate the next rate increase in December or January as Governor Kazuo Ueda focuses on normalizing monetary policy after over a decade of extensive stimulus. However, some, like former BOJ official Tohru Sasaki, argue that the timing of the divestiture announcement is not favorable amid market fragility. Meanwhile, Asia's tech stocks continued their downward trend, with Japan's Nikkei index falling 3% at one point, while China's blue-chip index faced its largest monthly decline in ten years due to fears over declining demand for chips and AI-related inputs. Bond markets exhibited a strong preference for safe-haven assets as US 10-year Treasury yields dropped by over 7 basis points, setting the largest one-month decline since December 2023. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield saw a similar decline of 5.5 basis points, reaching its lowest level since August 6. Financial futures point to continued uncertainty in Europe and the US, with Euro Stoxx 50 futures declining 0.43%, German DAX futures falling 0.2% at 26,107, while FTSE futures showed a slight increase of 0.2%. US stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis, experienced a drop of 0.89%. US earnings announcements and European economic data awaited investors on Friday, including AbbVie, Chevron, Colgate-Palmolive, Dominion Energy, and ExxonMobil in the US, along with presentations from AstraZeneca, Credit Agricole, and Sanofi across Europe. Additionally, the reopening of 1-month, 3-month, and 6-month government debt auctions in the UK is scheduled.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}