The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) and European stocks were higher on Friday after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) kept its monetary policy unchanged at the conclusion of its two-day meeting. Interest rates remained on hold around zero, as widely expected, while the central bank removed a reference to the amount of government bonds it has roughly committed to buying each month. It also issued fresh estimates projecting inflation to stay near its 2% target in the next three years, signalling its readiness to raise borrowing costs this year. The Japanese yen fell to the weaker side of 156 per dollar in a knee-jerk reaction to the decision, and last stood at 156.15 per dollar. London’s benchmark index was 0.6% higher in early trade Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) rose 0.6% and the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris headed 0.3% into the green The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) was up 0.6% Wall Street is set to open higher as S&P 500 futures (ES=F), Dow futures (YM=F) and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were all in the green The pound (GBPUSD=X) is flat against the dollar, trading at 1.2506 UK consumer confidence rises amid personal finance optimism Best savings accounts that offer above inflation rates "Something has come...