Sheesh, am I glad April 1 was a Saturday and markets were closed ...
This from the Nikkei on that date ...
BOJ increases its sway over Japan's financial markets
Outsized purchases of JGBs and equities threaten to warp market mechanisms
(bolding mine)
- The Bank of Japan ... the largest "whale" in the domestic equity market
- The BOJ purchased 5.58 trillion yen in exchange-traded funds in fiscal 2016, an 86% leap from the previous fiscal year. The total puts the bank above corporations and international investors as the single biggest buyer of Japanese equities.
- Last July, the BOJ decided to double the annual purchases of ETFs tracking the Nikkei Stock Average, Topix and other indexes to 6 trillion yen. Each round of ETF purchases by the bank lifts the Nikkei average by about 30 points, according to estimates by Nomura Securities.
- That translates to the Nikkei average receiving an aggregate boost of roughly 1,700 points after the current ETF policy was adopted. The Nikkei average added 2,150 points in fiscal 2016, meaning the BOJ's purchasing program alone accounts for the vast majority of the gain.
Yikes ....
