Energy Update Japan’s LNG demand to sink; Korea’s to fall more slowly A resurgent nuclear power sector in Japan and a continuously growing one in South Korea coupled with an expansion in renewable power capacities will ensure both countries’ LNG demand will fall... 23rd April 2024 · 3 mins read
Japan Economics Update Services inflation will remain around 2% this year We now expect services inflation to remain around 2% this year as a fading tailwind from soaring hotel and package tour prices will be offset by stronger labour cost growth. The upshot is that the... 23rd April 2024 · 4 mins read
Bank of Japan Watch Bank of Japan will deliver final rate hike in July Governor Ueda sounds keen on tightening policy further and we’re pencilling in another interest rate hike at the Bank of Japan’s July meeting. However, with underlying inflation set to fall below 2%... 22nd April 2024 · 8 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Why Japan intervenes in foreign exchange markets Foreign exchange interventions by the Bank of Japan have become rare and the further weakening of the yen in recent weeks has yet to trigger one. While there are some arguments in favour of using FX... 19th April 2024 · 4 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly FX intervention looking increasingly likely With the yen hitting a fresh multi-decade low against the dollar this week, the Ministry of Finance is signaling a growing likelihood of intervention in the foreign exchange markets. However, the Bank... 12th April 2024 · 7 mins read
Japan Economics Update A close race for fourth place The slump in the yen has resulted in Germany overtaking Japan as the world’s 3rd largest economy at market exchange rates. We expect Japan to overtake Germany yet again in the early 2030s as the yen... 9th April 2024 · 4 mins read
Capital Daily Tough times for Japanese equities may not last We expect Japanese equities to do quite well this year, as hype around artificial intelligence proves a more powerful catalyst than the headwind we anticipate from a stronger yen. 8th April 2024 · 4 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Ueda signals low bar for further rate hikes Bank of Japan Governor Ueda today indicated that it wouldn't take much for the Bank to hike interest rates further in the second half of the year. The extreme labour shortages coupled with persistent... 5th April 2024 · 5 mins read
Japan Economics Update Banks set to become major holders of JGBs yet again Once the Bank of Japan starts to reduce its huge holdings of Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs) in earnest, we think that commercial banks will once again become major holders of JGBs. Insurance firms... 2nd April 2024 · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Japan Tankan (Q1 2024) The slight fall in business conditions across all firm sizes in the latest Tankan suggests that a rapid recovery from the likely slump in Q1 GDP looks unlikely. 1st April 2024 · 3 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Japan Activity & Labour Market (Feb.) & Tokyo CPI (Mar.) With industrial output falling yet again in February following the plunge in January, GDP will fall sharply in the first quarter. 29th March 2024 · 2 mins read