When Japan's Nikkei Stock Average hit a new record this February for the first time in 34 years, a healthy U.S. economy and extremely low interest rates in Japan seemed to promise a solid floor for the market. Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda's surprisingly hawkish comments late Wednesday represented a shock to investors, said Bank of America strategist Masashi Akutsu. "Until now, the consensus was that rate increases would be gradual," Akutsu said, but Ueda instead suggested an aggressive upward push.