Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which has cut 10 percent of its global workforce in the past year, will trim its equity research team in Japan as early as this week, two sources said Tuesday.

Kunihiko Shiohara, codirector of Japan Investment Research, is among analysts who will leave the company by the end of March, the sources said. Goldman has about 70 people on its equity research team, down from a peak of 110 in November 2006.

Demand for equity analysis is dwindling as overseas investors abandon Japanese stocks, with a net ¥1.23 trillion sold in the first seven weeks of this year.

"Given the current state of its Japanese equity operations, the reductions aren't surprising," said Tatsuo Majima, an analyst at Tokai Tokyo Securities Co. "Even a 10 percent reduction seems mild compared with the massive cuts that took place in 2002 and 2003."

Sumiko Iwadate, a Tokyo-based company spokeswoman, declined comment on whether Goldman Sachs would reduce staff.

The New York-based company converted to a bank holding company from a brokerage last year and accepted $10 billion from the U.S. government to help avert a loss of investor confidence. The company cut 4,700 positions in the past year in a drive to lower costs.

Goldman eliminated as many as 200 positions in Tokyo in November and December, targeting front- and back-office workers in almost all sectors, other sources said Dec. 17.

Nomura Holdings Inc. is eliminating at least 100 jobs in Tokyo, while Nikko Cordial Securities Inc., the local retail brokerage unit of Citigroup, is shedding about 1,000 workers.

Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Group AG and Deutsche Bank AG are also cutting jobs in Japan.

Goldman Sachs, which was the largest and most profitable U.S. securities firm until last year, suffered its first quarterly loss as a public company during the three months that ended in November.

Shin Horie, codirector and machinery analyst at Goldman Sachs in Tokyo, will replace Shiohara, the first sources said. Shiohara joined the company as an auto analyst in 1999 and became a partner in October 2006.