Closing the curtain on this week's central bank meeting, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) decided to keep interest rates unchanged at the September policy meeting that just took place.
The results are in line with market expectations that negative interest rates remain at -0.10% and the target yield on Japan's 10-year government bonds is around 0%.
The central bank also made no changes to its guidance allowing 10-year bond yields to move within a range of +/-0.50%, as well as the new 1.0% limit adopted in July.
Following the decision, the yen reacted early by falling to 148.00 against the stronger US dollar.
In its follow-up statement the BOJ said that the Japanese economy is likely to continue to recover modestly and that inflation expectations have shown signs of rising.
The central bank also maintained its stance, vowing to take additional easing measures without hesitation.
Even so, markets are still hopeful of Governor Kazuo Ueda's earlier signal of a policy shift.
Investors' focus is now focused on Ueda's follow-up statement this evening on the decision taken by the BOJ today.
Meanwhile, data released before the meeting showed Japan's core inflation reached 3.1% in August, remaining above the central bank's 2% target for the 17th consecutive month.
