Swaps Traders Pile Into BOJ Rate Hike Bets as Meeting Approaches

  • Swaps market showed near 99% chance of hike at Jan. 23-24 vote
  • Yen headed for biggest weekly gain since end of November

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) headquarters in Tokyo.

Photographer: Toru Hanai/Bloomberg

In the span of just a couple of days, swap market traders have raised their bets to near certainty of an interest-rate hike by the Bank of Japan at its meeting next week.

Overnight index swaps on Friday showed as much as a 99% chance of a move by the BOJ at its Jan. 23-24 meeting, climbing from 71% on Wednesday.