2016-02-16wsj.com

Currencies haven't moved as expected. Negative rates ought to weaken a currency by making it less attractive to hold, one reason that central banks in the eurozone, Japan, Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark are so keen on them.

But when the Bank of Japan surprised economists by cutting to negative rates for the first time at the end of January, the yen had just one weak day before strengthening back to be worth more than it was before the cut. Against the dollar, it is now worth 4% more than before the cut.

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Both cases seem to show that investors fear negative rates more than they respect their power to stimulate. Part of this is down to the effect on the banking system, particularly in Europe. Banks haven't been able to pass on negative rates to customers, hurting their margins even as bondholders worry that corporate defaults are set to rise.



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