TOKYO -- The Bank of Japan's massive purchases of exchange-traded funds, part of its monetary easing program, could be contributing to sharp stock price swings by draining liquidity from the market.
The Nikkei Stock Average closed slightly higher Tuesday. Selling prevailed in the morning on weakness in U.S. and European stocks the previous day, but the benchmark index trimmed its losses in the afternoon and moved into positive territory shortly before the closing bell.
