OVERNIGHT

The yen backed off its recent strength in overnight trading against both the dollar and the euro, a move Japanese exporters  might welcome in what has been an unspoken currency war in the eyes of many investors. The Nikkei was up 0.9% to 16,111 and change.

In what can only be seen as another negative consumer reaction to negative interest rates and a further rock in the shoes of central bankers not just in Japan, the WSJ has a story today proving once again for every action there's a reaction.

TOKYO—Look no further than Japan’s hardware stores for a worrying new sign that consumers are hoarding cash--the opposite of what the Bank of Japan had hoped when it recently introduced negative interest rates.

Signs are emerging of higher demand for safes—a place where the interest rate on cash is always zero, no matter what the central bank does. Cash languishing in safes could thwart the Bank of Japan’s move to get money circulating more vigorously in the economy.

Shimachu Co., which operates a chain of stores selling hardware and home products, said Monday that sales of safes in the week that ended Sunday were 2 ½ times higher than in the same period a year earlier.

“In response to negative interest rates, there are elderly people who’re thinking of keeping their money under a mattress,” said Mariko Shimokawa, a saleswoman at a Shimachu store in eastern Tokyo.

One safe that costs about $700 is now out of stock and won’t be available for a month, the chain said.

The Shanghai Composite Index ended 2.4% higher and Australia’s S&P ASX 200 gained 1%. Futures pointed to a 1.2% opening gain for the S&P 500. Changes in futures don’t necessarily reflect market moves after the opening bell. And stocks in Europe opened up as commodity prices rallied.