Japan's central bank keeps its negative interest rate unchanged, says it's watching wage trends

The Bank of Japan has kept its longstanding easy credit policies unchanged, saying it will watch price and wage trends before raising its negative benchmark interest rate. The BOJ policy decision was widely expected. But investors and analysts have speculated that the central bank is tip-toeing toward a shift due to price increases that have left inflation above its 2% target. The U.S. dollar gained against the Japanese yen and stock prices surged after Tuesday's decision. The benchmark rate of negative 0.1% is meant to encourage banks to lend more and businesses and consumers to borrow more to spur demand and counter a trend toward deflation, or chronically falling prices.