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December 08, 2024
 

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Masaki Kondo
Signs of a decline in hedging demand suggest that local investors are less concerned the yen will rebound sharply.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 26, 2024
Lower hedging costs reveal Japan investors' confidence in weak yen bets
Three-month yen basis swaps, which indicate decreasing demand for hedging the more they rise, closed last week at their highest level since January 2022.
Call loan brokers at Tokyo Tanshi in Tokyo in November. After decades of setting its benchmark rate near zero, the Bank of Japan is poised to tighten, spurring new opportunities for veteran traders after decades of setting its benchmark rate near zero.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 17, 2024
Japan’s $4 trillion offshore funds will ignore first BOJ hike
Only 40% of 273 respondents said the BOJ's first interest-rate hike since 2007 will prompt investors to sell foreign assets and repatriate the proceeds.
The National Stock Exchange of India building in Mumbai, India. Japanese investors are increasingly shifting their focus to the Indian stock market on bets that the South Asian nation will be the next China.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 2, 2024
Japanese retail investors pile billions into Indian equities
In contrast, flows into Chinese shares have dropped the most among 14 emerging markets covered by Japan’s data on international investment positions.
The yen extended gains Tuesday after the Bank of Japan indicated it will reduce monthly buying of superlong government bonds.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 9, 2024
Yen rises after BOJ indicates cut in superlong bond buying
The BOJ bought ¥150 billion ($1.04 billion) of 10-to-25 year debt on Tuesday.
The Bank of Japan is holding a two-day policy meeting through Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 30, 2023
Ueda faces market fallout risk as BOJ mulls yields, prices and yen
In a sign of just how fraught the discussions on policy may be, BOJ officials are likely to monitor yield movements until the very last minute.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. Nearly 40% of respondents of the latest Bloomberg Markets Live Pulse survey said Treasurys will face the most severe impact from the BOJ shifting away from superaccommodative policy.
BUSINESS
Oct 23, 2023
When Japan ends negative rate policy, Treasurys will suffer
The Bank of Japan is likely to unwind its unusual policy of subzero rates during the first half of 2024.
There are expectations that Japan’s life insurers may increase purchases of Japanese government bonds as yields rise at home along with signs that the central bank is edging toward a normalization of monetary policy.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 13, 2023
Japan’s rising yields and yen hedging costs drive insurers to JGBs
Japanese government bonds are drawing interest amid signs that the central bank is edging toward a normalization of monetary policy.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2023
Biggest selloff in 25 years hits Japan bonds as BOJ loosens grip
The selloff is a reminder that the nation’s debt market relies in part on support from public-sector institutions to outperform global peers.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS
Aug 21, 2023
BOJ adjustments show strain as record bond buying continues
Doubling the effective cap on benchmark yields in December and again last month has yet to significantly reduce the central bank's purchases.
The yen has depreciated about 3% since the Bank of Japan decided to tolerate higher benchmark bond yields on July 28.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 15, 2023
Yen weakens toward level that prompted September intervention
The currency has depreciated about 3% since the Bank of Japan decided to tolerate higher benchmark bond yields on July 28.
Veteran Japanese investors are split over whether to put their money into Chinese bonds.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 27, 2023
Friends who help manage $640 billion clash on China bonds
While they’ve been friends for at least a decade, their take on trading China bonds couldn’t be more diametrically opposed.
Japanese retail investors have increased bets on volatile currencies.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 24, 2023
Japan’s mom-and-pop traders boost emerging-market currency bets
Japanese retail investors have increased bets on volatile currencies.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2023
Yen weakens to ¥145 per dollar, nears 2022 intervention level
Last year, the currency’s slide toward ¥146 triggered intervention, and in the buildup to that there were repeated official warnings.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2023
BOJ’s Ueda likely to hold with bond market on his side for now
Gov. Kazuo Ueda has repeatedly signaled his intention to take time before making any major changes to the central bank’s stimulus.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 1, 2023
Sky-high hedging costs push biggest Japanese insurers to riskier avenues
Currency swaps protected more than 11% of overseas securities owned at the end of the fiscal year to March, according to earnings reports from nine of the largest life insurance companies.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 19, 2023
Netflix and Amazon addiction turns into ‘digital deficit’ and hassle for the yen
The deficit from spending on such services reached ¥4.8 trillion last year, almost 90% of Japan’s services account deficit.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Apr 1, 2023
A $3 trillion threat to global financial markets looms in Japan
Just over a week before a momentous leadership change at the Bank of Japan, investors are gearing up for the seemingly inevitable end to a decade of ultralow interest rates.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 13, 2023
Global bond bulls face reckoning however new BOJ chief shapes policy
Beyond the yield fireworks any hawkish policy shift may soon ignite, steady selling of overseas bonds in favor of local alternatives by Japanese investors is already a market fact.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 9, 2023
Japan investors sold record foreign debt in 2022 as hedging costs rose
Money managers in the nation cut holdings of foreign fixed-income securities by ¥23.8 trillion over the period, an all-time high in data since 1996.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2023
Traders eye chance of further BOJ tweaks with ‘Pandora’s box open’
Another increase in the key 10-year yield's permitted trading ceiling is seen as the most likely course of action, should the BOJ act.
Miho Nakayama, known for 'Love Letter' and a decadeslong music career, dies at 54
Miho Nakayama
A $105 trillion inheritance windfall is on the way for U.S. heirs
About $105 trillion is projected to be passed down from older generations over the next quarter century, according to research firm Cerulli Associates, an amount roughly equal to global gross domestic product in 2023.
Japan's honorific language can be challenging for native speakers, too
People walk around an outlet mall in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture. At stores across Japan, clerks use a form of polite language called "manyuaru keigo," literally, “manual honorifics,” named for the service manuals they study it from.
Police may be able to use fake IDs to investigate yami baito
A Metropolitan Police Department flyer on high-paying illegal work advertised on social media, known as yami baito
Starbucks in Japan to ditch paper straws for plant-based biomass plastic in 2025
Starbucks Coffee Japan will replace paper straws with plant-based biomass plastic straws from next month.
What constitutes fatal dangerous driving in Japan?
Critics have said that drivers who were speeding well over the speed limit or those who were extremely drunk were not indicted for dangerous driving because of its vague definition.
Japan's soft power soared to new heights in 2024
Japanese creatives, athletes and activists saw their efforts recognized on the world stage in various ways this year. At the Oscars (left) Takashi Yamazaki and his team took a prize for “Godzilla Minus One,” while later in the year Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada (center) took Emmys for their work in “Shogun.” Shohei Ohtani (right) was arguably the biggest Japanese star of the year.
Lightning strikes twice for Shun Ikeda at All Japan Championships
Shun Ikeda holds the trophy after winning his second consecutive amateur yokozuna title on Sunday at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan.
Yoon’s gambit a tempest in a teapot for financial markets
A screen displays market data at Hana Bank in Seoul on Wednesday.
U.S. Space Force launches first unit in Japan
Activated on Wednesday, U.S. Space Forces Japan — a component similar to the one established at South Korea’s Osan Air Base in 2022 — will operate out of Yokota Air Base in the city of Fussa, western Tokyo, with a staff of about 10.

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