Markets shrug off Bank of Japan move

PARIS — World markets shrugged Tuesday after the Bank of Japan’s announcement of a new round of bond purchases that many thought wasn’t bold enough.

Surprisingly good results from a German investor confidence survey tempered losses later in the morning, but many traders were waiting for earnings releases later in the day from the U.S. Google, Johnson & Johnson and IBM are among those set to report results.

Earlier, some Asian markets were briefly buoyed by the Bank of Japan’s decision to set a 2 percent inflation target and implement open-ended asset purchases that will pump money into the financial system.

But many were underwhelmed by the move, which won’t start until 2014 when the current asset-purchase program finishes.

In Europe, the DAX in Germany slid 0.2 percent to 7,734, as did France’s CAC-40, trading at 3,754 in the early afternoon. The FTSE index of leading British shares was flat at 6,178.

The euro rose 0.4 percent to $1.3358.

Wall Street was set to open flat. Both Dow futures and S&P futures were even at 13,575 and 1,480, respectively, having been closed the day before for a holiday.

“Please, sir, I want more, said Oliver Twist, fed up with a diet of thin gruel. Such is the market’s response to news in Japan,” said Kit Juckes, an analyst with Societe Generale. “So disappointment on three fronts: The inflation target has no fixed time limit, the bond purchases are still skewed to the short end of the curve, and they don’t start soon enough.”

In the wake of the news, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index finished the day down 0.4 percent at 10,709.93 after volatile trading. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose marginally to 4,779.10. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng reversed morning losses to rise 0.3 percent to 23,658.99.

Mainland Chinese shares fell. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.6 percent to 2,315.14. The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index lost 1.4 percent to 928.90.

South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.5 percent to 1,996.52 after Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan said the country will help exporters struggling with the rise of the won, Yonhap News Agency said.

The remarks come amid worries that monetary stimulus moves by the U.S. and Japan could result in the further appreciation of the Korean currency.

In commodity markets, the benchmark oil contract for February delivery was down 10 cents to $95.94 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.