For the first time in 17 years, the Bank of Japan has hiked interest rates, up to a range of 0% to 0.1%. In response, the Yen has begun to slide against the US Dollar. The change to the nation's key policy rate comes ahead of the Federal Reserve's Wednesday monetary policy decision.
BlackRock Senior Strategist Kristy Akullian joins Yahoo Finance to give insight into how investors may frame the Bank of Japan's decision for their portfolios.
Akullian states: "We think [the decision] sends a really positive backdrop for Japan and Japan equities, and I think on how investors can think about that more broadly in their portfolio, is just another way to maybe diversify away from some of the remarkable concentration that we see in the US equity market. We're constructive on US equity markets but we actually see an opportunity for investors to add Japanese equities here, as well."