Japan's Nikkei rises 0.55%
Japanese markets rose as new data showed wholesale inflation slowed in May, easing pressure on the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates in its next policy board meeting.
The Nikkei average climbed 0.55 percent to 38,421,19, extending gains for a fourth straight session. The broader Topix index settled marginally higher at 2,788.72.
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Time of India
30 minutes ago
- Time of India
ET Exclusive: Global shocks won't alter our plans for India, says Masahiro Kihara, CEO Mizuho Financial Group
India's demographic advantages, GDP expansion and opportunity to broaden exports make it an important growth engine for Mizuho Financial Group , says Masahiro Kihara , chief executive of Japan's third-largest megabank with $1.9 trillion in assets. The group is constantly evaluating opportunities for investment and lending in India, and plans to double the headcount at its global capability centre here, he tells Joel Rebello and Sangita Mehta. Edited excerpts: What is driving Japanese interest in India? The future of India is very promising. From a demographic perspective, you have a lot of advantages. Besides wages, the working age population is still increasing, which is totally opposite from Japan. You have a stable democratic framework with robust digital infra. And beyond that you are inducing people to come and make in India (with) start-up India, production-based incentives and so on. The Japanese are looking for areas where they can grow. So, India is a very promising area. Also, Japan and India have a long-standing relationship sharing the same values, having sympathy towards each other. So, that gives Japanese companies confidence to invest here. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo Where does India fit into Mizuho's plans? There are 1,400 Japanese companies operating here and we bank with many of them. Many of these want to expand here. But there is also interest among Japanese companies to come here for the first time. We want to be supportive of the growth of Indian and Japanese companies. Also, we want to commit to the growth of India because both countries have been friends for many years. So, for us, India is a very important country. In November 2023, we increased our capital base to $500 million, so that our Indian operation can extend more lending. Live Events Are you likely to make more investments in India? I think at some point, we probably will need additional capital to inject here. And I'm happy to do that if there's a need for that. What would be the trigger for you to inject more capital? We have (invested) $500 million and based on the needs that we get from our customers I think it's sufficient right now. But as this country grows, I guess there will be much more for companies asking for lending. Any acquisitions that you're looking at in India? First of all, in terms of organic, we focus on five business areas: Japanese retail; asset management and wealth management in Japan; Japanese corporates; global corporate investment banking and sustainability. We are constantly looking at opportunities in these areas. So, I can't allude to what will happen in India. There have been reports about Mizuho acquiring a majority stake in Avendus Capital. What is the status? I can't allude to that. No comments. Will corporate banking continue to be your focus in India? We are particularly very good at corporate wholesale banking. In the global space, I think we should stick to wholesale banking because regional retail banking is very difficult. Wholesale banking is the area where we have expertise, we have strength. Given the global uncertainties in terms of rates, markets, trade and political tensions, what is your view on growth? Of course, there's a lot of uncertainties but at some point things will get clear. Then everybody will start adjusting to a new world order. So, I would say given that there's uncertainty from a global perspective, the activity might be slow. But once things get clear, activity will come back. Does it change the way you invest in India or will you have to relook at your plans here? I think India is a little bit insulated from all these things. I would say that India is a bit of a different story. Very different from Japan. So, we won't change what we were going to do in India. What would be the impact of the US tariff war on India? The effect on India is probably minimal. You might even benefit from production moving into India from other countries, given the fact that maybe the tariff rate is lower than the other countries. What is happening is that corporations are thinking of diversifying their supply chain from a stability perspective. Everybody is thinking about moving into areas that have growth potential. So, India is in a good position from that perspective. What advantages do you think India has over China? In the long run, the working age population, I think that's the most important part. For India it is going to grow. China is going to decrease. That's a big advantage. What are your plans on the global capability centre in India? We have around 600 people and we want to double that in two or three years and move in more and more operations here in India because India has a talent pool. Which are the sectors you're very optimistic about? In India there is ambition to grow in manufacturing from auto electronics, semiconductors and infrastructure. Increasingly, when the per capita (income) goes up, there should be increasing demand for retail too. India is constructing airports, highways, railroads. We have done many projects in the infrastructure sector. We have also beefed up the project finance team recently. The top 3 Japanese banks are here in India with deep pockets. How would you differentiate between yourselves and them? We at Mizuho are very good at industry research. We have a very strong global corporate and investment banking franchise, developed from 2015 when we purchased assets from RBS and onboarded 100 relationship managers. We want to integrate every capability that we need in the investment bank inside our bank, to get synergies between those capabilities. Based on these strengths, we'll try to bring all these capabilities into India too, and I think we can be competitive on them.
Economic Times
8 hours ago
- Economic Times
OpenAI in talks to raise fresh funds from Saudi Arabia's PIF, India's Reliance Industries: The Information
OpenAI has held discussions with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), Reliance Industries, and UAE's MGX to participate in its ongoing $40 billion fundraising, US tech publication The Information reported. ADVERTISEMENT The talks are part of the second instalment of the fundraise, where OpenAI is looking to raise about $30 billion by December, potentially valuing the company at around $260 billion before the new investment, the report said. Japan's SoftBank, which is leading the round, has already been actively buying shares from employees. Between March and May, it purchased around $240 million worth of shares from a small group of current and former staffers, the report said. Last year, ahead of its mega round, SoftBank had also acquired about $2 billion worth of new and existing shares. SoftBank is expected to contribute at least three-fourths of the $30 billion instalment, leaving about $7.5 billion to be raised from new investors, according to the report. The Japanese conglomerate may take loans or sell some of its public market holdings, including its shares in Arm Holdings, to fund the investment, the report has also discussed raising at least $100 million each from Coatue Management and Founders Fund as part of the ongoing fundraise, the report said, while talks with PIF and other prospective investors are still at an early stage.A direct investment by Saudi Arabia's PIF, which manages over $900 billion in assets, would mark a shift from its earlier exposure to US tech firms through venture funds like Andreessen Horowitz and Iconiq Capital, The Information noted. ADVERTISEMENT CEO Sam Altman had earlier met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a visit to Riyadh, which coincided with the kingdom's latest AI investment push, the report in India, OpenAI is exploring a product and sales partnership with Reliance, whose portfolio includes Jio, India's largest wireless carrier, and the world's biggest oil refinery. OpenAI wants Reliance businesses to distribute or sell its AI offerings in India, which is now its second-largest user market, Altman said in February, the report said. ADVERTISEMENT The scale of its capital needs is also rising sharply as ChatGPT's weekly active users exceed 500 million, up from 300 million in December. Between 2025 and 2027, OpenAI expects to spend about $35 billion on servers to support existing products, and another $55 billion on developing new models, the report of the round hinges on a pending corporate restructuring of its for-profit entity. While an earlier plan to convert it into a public benefit corporation was dropped, a revised restructuring still needs to be finalised by year-end. Failure to do so could see SoftBank cut its commitment and scale back the round to $20 billion, the report said. ADVERTISEMENT Separately, OpenAI, SoftBank, MGX and Oracle have partnered on Stargate, a $500 billion initiative to build global AI data centres, according to The Information.
Mint
11 hours ago
- Mint
Japan and US still far apart in tariff talks, says Japanese Prime Minister
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba still sees distance with the US when it comes to trade talks, according to an opposition party leader who met with the leader to discuss US tariffs. Ishiba is expected to meet US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Group of Seven leaders gathering in Canada starting Sunday. Ahead of that potentially key meeting, the prime minister gathered with opposition party leaders Thursday to canvass their thoughts on the American levies. Speaking to reporters after the gathering, Japan Innovation Party co-leader Seiji Maehara said that Ishiba said there is a large gap between the US and Japanese stances, and that he doesn't have a particular timeline in mind for when the two sides may come to an agreement. 'If there's progress before I meet the president, that's in and of itself good,' Ishiba told reporters in Tokyo Thursday. 'But what's important is to achieve an agreement that's beneficial to both Japan and the US. We won't compromise Japan's interests by prioritising a quick deal.' The upcoming summit gathering in Canada is viewed as a potential moment for Japan and the US to reach some kind of an agreement after two months of back-and-forths. Failing to get any kind of deal there could worsen Ishiba's standing ahead of a national election next month as the tariffs threaten to push Japan's economy into a technical recession. Maehara and Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the Democratic Party for the People said that Ishiba also mentioned the US and Japan are discussing Japan's US Treasuries holdings, without elaborating on details. Tamaki told Ishiba that Japan could help US yields stabilize by reinvesting in US bonds — specifically by buying longer-term bonds when current holdings mature. Japan remains the biggest foreign holder of US Treasuries. In early May, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato's remarks that suggested US Treasuries could be used as a negotiating tool drew great market interest, but later Kato appeared to walk back those comments and in particular the idea that Japan might use the sale of US Treasuries in negotiations. While Japanese party leaders continued to discuss the tariffs' impact, Trump appears to be ramping up pressure. The US president said he intended to send letters to trading partners in the next one to two weeks setting unilateral tariff rates, ahead of a July 9 deadline to reimpose higher duties on dozens of economies. For Japan, an across-the-board tariff is set to increase to 24% from 10% on that day barring a deal. The Asian nation is trying to earn a reprieve from a 25% tariff on cars and car parts and a 50% levy on steel and aluminum. Ishiba's top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa is expected to travel to North America later this week for the sixth round of negotiations with his counterparts. Still, in a different debate with opposition party leaders held in parliament on Wednesday, Ishiba hinted at how quickly the situation could change.
