The Nikkei rose 0.8%,the highest close since April,2000

The Nikkei has hit a 15-year high after the Bank of Japan kept its monetary spigots on at full blast, with the BOJ's board voting 8-1 to maintain its asset-purchase target at ¥80T a year. As in the U.S., all that money printing has caused an inflation in assets - if not in consumer goods and services - and the Nikkei rose 0.8% to 19,789.81, the highest close since April 2000.