Bank of Japan as a Contrarian Stock Investor: Large-Scale ETF Purchases
12 Pages Posted: 8 May 2020
Date Written: April 13, 2020
Abstract
This study unveils the Bank of Japan’s behavior of purchasing exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The Bank purchases ETFs after observing a significantly negative stock return over the previous night and during the morning market. The Bank stops purchasing ETFs when an overnight and morning stock return becomes positive. This unique counter-cyclical purchase behavior is consistent with its objective of decreasing equity risk premia and stimulating spending. Our study sheds light on a central bank’s program to purchase equity when the interest-rate policy is ineffective.
Keywords: large-scale asset purchases (LSAP), quantitative easing (QE), central banking, exchange-traded funds (ETF), unconventional monetary policy
JEL Classification: E52, E58, G11
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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