Japanese equities shrugged off the Bank of Japan’s surprise move to accelerate selling of its massive holdings of exchange-traded funds, as investors showed confidence in the market’s ability to absorb the extra supply.

Alongside its widely expected decision to keep interest rates unchanged, the BOJ announced Friday it would nearly triple the pace of ETF sales starting in January to about ¥860 billion ($5.5 billion) per year. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average, which was under selling pressure from the morning amid a global tech selloff, pared losses slightly to trade roughly 2% lower in the afternoon.

The announcement may appear negative at first glance, but the market impact will be limited given the current daily trading value, said Yukihiro Kawanishi, a senior strategist at Aizawa Securities Co. “There may be benefits from improving liquidity in stocks where the BOJ’s holdings have reduced the amount of shares available in the market.”The BOJ’s plan may also help to support Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s ambitious fiscal plans as most of the realized gains from the sales are likely to be remitted to government coffers, according to Taro Kimura, an economist at Bloomberg Economics.

While jitters over the AI trade have dominated the stock market in recent weeks, the Nikkei is still up about 25% year-to-date, extending last year’s 26% rally. The broader Topix gauge is up about 16%.

“Few people had expected the BOJ to accelerate the pace of its ETF sales, making the announcement a surprise,” said Hiroshi Namioka, chief strategist at T&D Asset Management. “Still, the BOJ likely made the decision after assessing market conditions, including trading turnover, signaling its confidence that the sales would not distort market prices.”