Latest news with #Japaneseequities
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hedge funds dumped Japanese stocks ahead of upper house election, says Goldman
By Summer Zhen HONG KONG (Reuters) -Global hedge funds offloaded Japanese equities at the sharpest pace in almost two-and-a-half months last week, just ahead of the country's upper house election on Sunday, Goldman Sachs said in a note. Sunday's election dealt a major blow to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his ruling coalition, just as investors who had been selling Japanese bonds and stocks in the run up to the election had expected. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 and Topix have dropped 1.7% and 0.6%, respectively so far this month, bucking the rally in other stock markets. Both indexes closed down on Friday. Sunday's outcome further weakens Ishiba's grip on power, even though he has vowed to remain party leader to complete trade tariff negotiations with the United States. The selling by hedge funds between July 11 and July 17 was mainly driven by increased short bets and a relatively moderate reduction in long positions, according to a Goldman Sachs prime brokerage note on Friday, seen by Reuters on Monday. Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday on Monday, but the yen strengthened while Nikkei futures rose slightly, as the election results appeared to be already priced in. Overall, hedge funds remain overweight Japan compared to its weight in the MSCI World Index by 0.6%, Goldman said. Analysts said uncertainty about the prime minister's future has increased and could lead to "policy paralysis" and larger fiscal deficits. "This marks the first time since 1955 that the LDP-led government has fallen below a majority in both the lower and upper house, potentially increasing political instability in Japan," MUFG analysts said in a note.
CNA
21-07-2025
- Business
- CNA
Hedge funds dumped Japanese stocks ahead of upper house election, says Goldman
HONG KONG :Global hedge funds offloaded Japanese equities at the sharpest pace in almost two-and-a-half months last week, just ahead of the country's upper house election on Sunday, Goldman Sachs said in a note. Sunday's election dealt a major blow to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his ruling coalition, just as investors who had been selling Japanese bonds and stocks in the run up to the election had expected. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 and Topix have dropped 1.7 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively so far this month, bucking the rally in other stock markets. Both indexes closed down on Friday. Sunday's outcome further weakens Ishiba's grip on power, even though he has vowed to remain party leader to complete trade tariff negotiations with the United States. The selling by hedge funds between July 11 and July 17 was mainly driven by increased short bets and a relatively moderate reduction in long positions, according to a Goldman Sachs prime brokerage note on Friday, seen by Reuters on Monday. Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday on Monday, but the yen strengthened while Nikkei futures rose slightly, as the election results appeared to be already priced in. Overall, hedge funds remain overweight Japan compared to its weight in the MSCI World Index by 0.6 per cent, Goldman said. Analysts said uncertainty about the prime minister's future has increased and could lead to "policy paralysis" and larger fiscal deficits. "This marks the first time since 1955 that the LDP-led government has fallen below a majority in both the lower and upper house, potentially increasing political instability in Japan," MUFG analysts said in a note.
Reuters
21-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
HEDGE FLOW Hedge funds dumped Japanese stocks ahead of upper house election, says Goldman
HONG KONG, July 21 (Reuters) - Global hedge funds offloaded Japanese equities at the sharpest pace in almost two-and-a-half months last week, just ahead of the country's upper house election on Sunday, Goldman Sachs said in a note. Sunday's election dealt a major blow to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his ruling coalition, just as investors who had been selling Japanese bonds and stocks in the run up to the election had expected. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 (.N225), opens new tab and Topix (.TOPX), opens new tab have dropped 1.7% and 0.6%, respectively so far this month, bucking the rally in other stock markets. Both indexes closed down on Friday. Sunday's outcome further weakens Ishiba's grip on power, even though he has vowed to remain party leader to complete trade tariff negotiations with the United States. The selling by hedge funds between July 11 and July 17 was mainly driven by increased short bets and a relatively moderate reduction in long positions, according to a Goldman Sachs prime brokerage note on Friday, seen by Reuters on Monday. Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday on Monday, but the yen strengthened while Nikkei futures rose slightly, as the election results appeared to be already priced in. Overall, hedge funds remain overweight Japan compared to its weight in the MSCI World Index (.MIWO00000PUS), opens new tab by 0.6%, Goldman said. Analysts said uncertainty about the prime minister's future has increased and could lead to "policy paralysis" and larger fiscal deficits. "This marks the first time since 1955 that the LDP-led government has fallen below a majority in both the lower and upper house, potentially increasing political instability in Japan," MUFG analysts said in a note.
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hedge funds dumped Japanese stocks ahead of upper house election, says Goldman
By Summer Zhen HONG KONG (Reuters) -Global hedge funds offloaded Japanese equities at the sharpest pace in almost two-and-a-half months last week, just ahead of the country's upper house election on Sunday, Goldman Sachs said in a note. Sunday's election dealt a major blow to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his ruling coalition, just as investors who had been selling Japanese bonds and stocks in the run up to the election had expected. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 and Topix have dropped 1.7% and 0.6%, respectively so far this month, bucking the rally in other stock markets. Both indexes closed down on Friday. Sunday's outcome further weakens Ishiba's grip on power, even though he has vowed to remain party leader to complete trade tariff negotiations with the United States. The selling by hedge funds between July 11 and July 17 was mainly driven by increased short bets and a relatively moderate reduction in long positions, according to a Goldman Sachs prime brokerage note on Friday, seen by Reuters on Monday. Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday on Monday, but the yen strengthened while Nikkei futures rose slightly, as the election results appeared to be already priced in. Overall, hedge funds remain overweight Japan compared to its weight in the MSCI World Index by 0.6%, Goldman said. Analysts said uncertainty about the prime minister's future has increased and could lead to "policy paralysis" and larger fiscal deficits. "This marks the first time since 1955 that the LDP-led government has fallen below a majority in both the lower and upper house, potentially increasing political instability in Japan," MUFG analysts said in a note.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Japanese foreign equity purchases in April hit 20-year high on global market volatility
(Reuters) -Japanese investors sharply ramped up their overseas equity purchases in April, shifting away from bonds as they rebalanced portfolios amid global market volatility triggered by U.S. tariffs, and capitalizing on discounted international shares. Japanese investors bought a net 3.27 trillion yen ($22.37 billion) in overseas stocks — the highest monthly total since at least 2005 — while pulling 1.08 trillion yen from foreign bonds, according to Ministry of Finance data released on Monday. Institutional investors pulled 1.99 trillion yen from long-term debt securities but allocated a net 906.3 billion yen into short-term instruments. Trust accounts led equity purchases with a record 2.76 trillion yen, followed by investment trust firms, which added 801.4 billion yen in foreign stocks. Life insurers, however, offloaded 462 billion yen in foreign shares, marking a fourth consecutive month of net selling. U.S. Treasury yields rose in early April as bonds sold off, with hedge funds unwinding leveraged basis trades and overseas investors selling U.S. debt in apparent retaliation for tariffs, amid growing doubts about the safe-haven status of U.S. assets. Separately, data released by the Bank of Japan on Monday showed Japanese investors pumped 2.12 trillion yen into U.S. equities in March — the most since at least 2014 — while trimming holdings of European stocks by a modest 21.82 billion yen. Meanwhile, overseas investors snapped up 3.68 trillion yen in Japanese markets in April, the largest monthly inflow in two years. Analysts suggested that early April buying was likely fuelled by optimism over Japanese companies, driven by corporate reforms, increased confidence in yen stability, and relatively attractive valuations compared with Western markets. ($1 = 146.1500 yen) Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
