Bank Of Japan Increases Stimulus, Russia Hikes Rates

In a surprise overnight move, the Bank Of Japan announced it will expand its Japanese Government Bond purchases to 80 trillion yen from the current 50 trillion yen, while extending the duration to seven to 10 years. It will purchase up to three trillion yen in Exchange Traded Funds, up from an earlier one trillion yen level. They also are increasing the pace of buying Japan real estate investment trusts from 30 billion to 90 billion. The Japanese central bank pledged to maintain these easing policies to achieve 2 percent inflation. In another surprise move, the Bank of Russia raised its key rate to 9.5 percent percent from 8 percent, likely in an attempt to halt capital outflows. S&P 500 futures rallied sharply on the news,with December futures trading higher by 1.3 percent at 2011.