Nikkei 225 Opens Nearly Flat as Bank of Japan Meeting Looms
As seen on the 24/7 Wall St. homepage on October 26, 2026.
Tokyo opens barely changed, a holding pattern ahead of the Bank of Japan policy meeting that decides whether the next rate hike lands this quarter. The yen is the tell: any shift there moves Japanese exporters fast.
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The Nikkei 225 opened at 400.05 on Monday, a standstill against Friday's close.
The stillness in Tokyo is deliberate. Traders are reluctant to build positions ahead of the Bank of Japan's policy meeting, where the central question is whether a rate hike arrives this quarter or gets pushed out.
The yen is the instrument to watch. Japanese exporters are acutely sensitive to currency shifts, and any surprise in the BOJ's language or rate decision moves that group sharply before the broader index fully catches up.
The index has pulled back from levels near 437 over the past several sessions, so the current flatness sits at the lower end of a meaningful near-term range. Whether the BOJ meeting resolves that range or extends the uncertainty is the defining question for Japanese equities right now.