The Nikkei .N225 swerved in and out of the red soon after the BOJ policy decision was announced and was last up more than 1 percent, while the Topix .TOPX gained 1.7 percent after the central bank said 2.7 trillion of its ETF purchases will be linked to the index. United States markets opened up lower last week as it seemed chances of a rate increase were beginning to peak. But no one knows for sure. The FOMC began to meet today for a two-day conference which culminates in an announcement of fiscal policy on Wednesday. The Bank of Japan also met on Tuesday and will make an announcement on Wednesday. The policy review will be important in setting the framework for monetary policy over the next few months at least and could also have important global implications for Fed and European Central Bank policies. According to CME Group's FedWatch tool, traders see a 15 percent chance of a hike. "The focus of investors will be on the tone of the Fed statement". Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren, usually seen as a policy dove, also noted earlier this month that the risks to the economy were "becoming increasingly two-sided". Until recently, many Fed watchers had thought a rate hike was likely this week. Based on history, the Fed wants to prepare investors for a forthcoming rate increase and avoid having a small rate hike trigger a stock market plunge. Generally speaking, rising USA interest rates increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion and boost the dollar, making gold more expensive for buyers holding other currencies. In December 2015, the US central bank raised rates for the first time since 2006. The Fed will update its quarterly economic forecasts Wednesday. Its stock lost $2.29, or 28.2 percent, to $5.83. "George is winning her argument that rates are simply too low for current economic conditions including unemployment at 4.9 percent". "We expect the BOJ to step up its support for pushing inflation to 2 percent", BofaML strategists wrote in a preview note. "The strengthening of the inflation goal by now seeking an overshoot is all well and good, but if there is deep doubt over reaching even 2 percent, there will be even greater doubt over achieving an overshoot". There has also been strong speculation that the bank will look to steepen the yield curve by cutting long-dated bond purchases. So-called "bond king" Jeffrey Gundlach, CEO of DoubleLine Capital, predicted in a Reuters interview on September 9 that interest rates had bottomed and suggested that the Fed, talking about hiking as growth slowed, risked taking a "bond unfriendly turn". The technical adjustments to the Bank of Japan's policies were widely expected, though many analysts had expected an interest rate cut or other more aggressive moves to perk up sluggish growth in the world's No. 3 economy. Meanwhile, core consumer price inflation continued to accelerate, rising 2.3% from a year ago. Many analysts were setting their sights on an increase at the December FOMC meeting. In June, Fed officials projected three increases in both 2017 and 2018 - a pace that would lift the benchmark rate to 2.4 percent by the end of 2018. On the flip side, Sony Financial Holdings and Trend Micro are down more than 3 percent each.

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