Activist poised to take over as governor of BoJ

Japanese equities were given a boost yesterday by reports that the monetary activist Haruhiko Kuroda will be named as the next governor of the Bank of Japan.

The Nikkei 225 Average shot up 2.4 per cent after it emerged that Mr Kuroda, head of the Asian Development Bank, is in pole position to take charge of monetary policy. He is a critic of the central bank's refusal to inject more stimulus into the economy and its failure to expunge deflation.