The yen dropped after the Bank of Japan’s decision to hike rates as a split vote sent bearish signals, strategists said. The Japanese currency fell as much as 0.8% and bond markets erased earlier gains after the central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 1.25%. Board members voted 7-2 to raise the key rate in a move was predicted by all economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

Investor focus now shifts to Governor Kazuo Ueda’s post-decision press conference scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Tokyo time. Strategists including Nikos Tzabouras of Tradu, Masahiro Ichikawa of Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management, Masahiko Loo of State Street Investment Management, Naomi Muguruma of Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, Neil Newman of Astris Advisory Japan, Hirofumi Suzuki of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., Homin Lee of Lombard Odier Singapore Ltd., and Chidu Narayanan of Wells Fargo in Singapore weighed in on the implications for yen strength and market outlook.