Analyst: The Bank of Japan's asset sale plan indicates that an interest rate hike is imminent in October.

On September 19, analysts noted that the yen strengthened against G10 currencies and Asian currencies after the Bank of Japan unexpectedly released hawkish signals. StoneX senior market analyst Matt Simpson pointed out that although the Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged as expected, it announced the beginning of a reduction in its massive ETF and REIT holdings. "This marks an important symbolic step in officially moving away from the super-loose policies of the Abenomics era," he stated, "The key point is that the Bank of Japan has officially started to reduce the scale of its unconventional asset holdings." Simpson added that this could also be a precursor to an interest rate hike by the Central Bank in October. (Jin10)