Bank of Japan Begins $250 Billion ETF Unwind, Markets React

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) announced plans to start unwinding its $250 billion in ETFs and Japanese Real Estate Investment Trusts (JREITs), accumulated since 2010.
The BOJ will sell ETFs with a book value of ¥330bn ($2.2 billion) annually, equating to ¥620bn ($4.2 billion) at market prices. The process is expected to be extremely slow.
The central bank decided to keep its benchmark rate at 0.5% with a 7-2 split vote, amid rising speculation about potential tightening by October due to inflation concerns.
Japan's core CPI reached 2.7% in August, exceeding the BOJ's 2% target.
The Nikkei index fell over 1%, and the 10-year Japanese Government Bond yield rose to 1.64%. In parallel, cryptocurrencies experienced a dip, with bitcoin falling just above $116,000 after nearing $118,000 earlier.
Japan’s debt-to-GDP ratio is near 240%, raising concerns about fiscal sustainability amid high bond yields and borrowing costs.