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Relevant News Item 16th September 2022

Shinzo Abe’s Economic Legacy: A Glass Half Full

Alicia García Herrero (Natixis) | The assassination on 8 July 2022 of Japan’s longest-serving prime minister Shinzo Abe was one of the most shocking and saddest events in contemporary Japanese history. Abe had surprised Japanese citizens with his sudden health-related resignation in 2020. His resignation opened the way for Japan’s then foreign minister, Fumio Kishida, to win Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) support and the November 2021 general election, to become…

Japanese general

World economy 19th May 2022

Japan’s GDP Shrinks By 1% In Q1 2022 Vs Previous Quarter

Link Securities | Japan’s GDP contracted by 1% in Q1 2022 from the previous quarter on an annualised basis, a smaller decline than the 1.8% drop expected by analysts. In addition, in the previous quarter Japan recorded GDP growth of 3.8%, revised downwards from an initial estimate of 4.6% growth. The main surprise was a marginal 0.1% annualised fall in private consumption, which is explained as the main drag on…

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World economy 25th March 2022

BoJ: Sharp Yen Depreciation Adding Pressure To Revise Self-Defeating Policy

Alicia García Herrero (Natixis) | As the Yen rapidly depreciates above USDJPY=120, the unintended consequences of the Bank of Japan (BoJ)’s Yield Curve Control (YCC) has become increasingly apparent. Last month, the BoJ announced it would intervene in the JGB market to protect the 0.25% ceiling on the 10-year JGB yields as they were being pushed up by higher US Treasury yields. Furthermore, after the Fed began to tighten last…

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In the World, World economy 20th February 2021

Japan Has A New Leadership But It’s The Same Stock Pickers’ Market

Akira Horiguchi (Capital Group) | 2020 was a rather eventful year for Japan following a series of headline-grabbing events, including COVID-19, a delay of the Tokyo Summer Olympics and a surprise change in leadership in September. Yoshihide Suga’s succession of his ally Shinzo Abe as prime minister, in particular, has provided investors plenty to think about in terms of what Suga’s leadership could mean for Japanese stocks heading into the new year.

The interests on the benchmark US bonds rose over 3% in April, for the first time since the start of 2014

In the World, World economy 23rd December 2020

Are US Treasuries Turning Japanese?

Keith Wade (Schroders) | Clearly, Japan’s debt is significantly higher than the US’. However, it is stable rather than rising. This reflects the poor position of US government finances before Covid-19, where the budget deficit was running at 6.3% of GDP at a time when the economy was doing well with unemployment at less than 4%, a 50-year low. (In net terms the comparison is less stark with Japan at 180% GDP versus 114% in the US).

tokyo stock exchange 1

Spanish economy 11th November 2020

Japanese Investors Were Net Buyers Of Spanish Bonds In September

Bonds from the European Union have become popular among Japanese investors. Already in July, Japanese funds bought record amount of Italian debt. However in September, they purchased a net 235 billion yen ($2.15 billion) of Spanish bonds, while selling a net 127.7 billion yen of Italian paper during the month, the data from Japan’s Ministry of Finance showed.

ibedrola renewables

Ibex, Markets, Spanish economy 23rd September 2020

Iberdrola To Develop The Still Inmature Japanese Offshore Wind Market

Iberdrola is targeting the Japanese market as a new platform for growth in renewable energy, specifically in the field of offshore wind. It has signed a deal with Macquarie’s Green Investment Group to acquire 100% of the local developer Acacia Renewables, which currently has two offshore wind farms under development, with a combined capacity of up to 1.2 GW. The operation will allow Iberdrola to position itself in the early development stage of Japan’s offshore wind market.

Japanese general

In the World, World economy 29th August 2020

“Same Wine, Different Bottle” – What Next For Japan?

Today’s official resignation of Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe ended weeks of speculation following a number of hospital visits over the past month (…) The two front runners for Prime Minister are probably Shigeru Ishiba (photo) and Fumio Kishida. While neither would be likely be politically revolutionary, Ishiba has been more critical of Abe in the past and was recently quoted saying: “We need to rethink everything about Japan… Stocks are not the whole economy. We need to change the system where all wealth accumulates with stockholders and people who manage companies.” Given his more populist stance it is unsurprising that he is popular, regularly topping public polls for the preferred next PM. Kishida by contrast has been moulded and promoted by Abe himself, and never will the cliché above be more true than if he is chosen to take over from his political mentor.