Latest news with #KazuhiroSasaki
Mint
15 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
SoftBank's $47 Billion AI-Led Stock Rally Is at Risk of Stalling
SoftBank Group Corp. shares look to have limited upside after the rally this month that added more than ¥7 trillion to an all-time high Monday. Founder Masayoshi Son's aggressive investment in artificial intelligence, from its $500 billion data center project with OpenAI and Oracle Corp., to growing holdings in Nvidia Corp., drove stellar gains in the stock. However it failed to keep its momentum Tuesday, despite plans to invest $2 billion in Intel Corp., with investors taking profit after a 135% share price gain in just four months. The shares may have peaked for now, and these three charts show why: SoftBank's 14-day relative strength index climbed as far as 90 on Monday, exceeding the threshold that signals the stock might be overbought. It was in the similar territory in February 2024 and again five months later. In both cases sharp declines ensued. The shares are trading further above analysts' target prices than at any point since records began in 2010. Past such instances have been followed by the stock losing momentum. 'It suggests the rally is more than just about the fundamental factors,' said Kazuhiro Sasaki, head of research at Phillip Securities Japan Ltd. He noted some investors bought SoftBank shares as they built up exposure to Nikkei 225 Stock Average which reached fresh record this week. SoftBank now trades at a discount of about 30% to its net asset value per share, compared with 48% at the end of July, making the stock less appealing from a valuation standpoint. 'The shares are overheated in the short-term,' said Angus Lee, a fund manager at Sparx Asset Management who added SoftBank in his portfolio in July, adding that he's not 'super bullish at this point.' Lee said that longer-term the shares are 'fairly attractive' due to possible listings of the companies that SoftBank has invested in, but he's taken profit in the past few days. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
The Mainichi
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Mainichi
Baseball: Giants' Martinez earns 200th save at record pace
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Raidel Martinez earned his 200th save in Nippon Professional Baseball at a record pace on Friday as the Yomiuri Giants came from behind to beat the Central League-leading Hanshin Tigers 6-5. The 28-year-old Cuban struck out the side swinging in the ninth inning for his 34th save of the season at Tokyo Dome to reach the milestone in 348 games, eclipsing the previous record of 370 games set by former Yokohama BayStars closer Kazuhiro Sasaki who also played for the Seattle Mariners. "I'm very happy," he said. "I'm moved to achieve it in front of my family who only arrived from Cuba yesterday." Right-hander Martinez joined the Chunichi Dragons as a development player in 2017 and has had 20-plus saves every year since 2020. He led the CL in saves in 2022 (39) and 2024 (43) before joining the Giants this year. He becomes the 11th player to secure 200 saves in NPB. The Giants were down 4-0 but Hayato Sakamoto hit a three-run home run in the sixth and Raito Nakayama's two-run shot in the seventh tied it at 5-5 before Trey Cabbage plated the go-ahead run in the eighth with a sacrifice fly.
Yahoo
04-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Japanese Stocks Slump After US Jobs Data Spark Growth Worries
(Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks fell after the latest US employment data raised concern over the world's largest economy. Banks and exporters led declines after the yen rallied against the dollar on speculation the Federal Reserve will cut rates. We Should All Be Biking Along the Beach Seeking Relief From Heat and Smog, Cities Follow the Wind Chicago Curbs Hiring, Travel to Tackle $1 Billion Budget Hole NYC Mayor Adams Gives Bally's Bronx Casino Plan a Second Chance The broader Topix Index and the blue-chip Nikkei 225 pared some of their earlier losses but closed down 1.1% and 1.2% , respectively, after falling over 2% in morning trade. The yen was trading at around 147.70 to the dollar as of 3:30 p.m. in Tokyo, after surging more than 2% on Friday. The latest US employment report showed the steepest downward revisions to jobs growth since the pandemic, with nonfarm payrolls being marked down by nearly 260,000 in May and June combined. The S&P 500 sank the most since May while the dollar snapped a six-day gain. 'With this kind of data, investors will be worrying not about the possibility of a recession, but that we might already be in one,' said Kazuhiro Sasaki, head of research at Phillip Securities Japan. 'That's being reflected in the weakening of the dollar and negative sentiment around stocks.' Banking shares were major losers Monday, with the Topix's gauge of lenders down 3.2%, its biggest plunge since April 11. A murkier economic outlook in the US will likely dampen expectations for a near-term Bank of Japan rate hike, weighing on banks' shares, said Sasaki. Overnight index swaps are pricing in a 36% chance of a rate hike by October, down from 43% on Friday. The drop in Japanese equities comes on the eve of the one-year anniversary of last August's market meltdown. The benchmark Topix plunged the most since 1987 on Aug. 5, 2024, following the Bank of Japan's unexpected interest rate hike, coupled with economic concerns in the US. Before Monday's fall, the gauge had recovered about 30% since. 'The rapid strengthening of the yen and weaker US data imply tougher times ahead for large cap exporters,' though domestic-demand oriented small caps may benefit from a stronger currency, said Jamie Halse, chief executive officer at Senjin Capital Pty. 'When the US sneezes the world catches a cold, so I would expect increased caution amongst equity investors.' Japan is in the middle of an earnings season, with Sony Group Corp. and auto exporter Toyota Motor Corp. expected to report this week. Games maker Nintendo Co. was a bright spot Monday, gaining 5.1% after its quarterly earnings showed strong sales of its Switch 2 console. The company's solid hardware sales, 'robust' game software pipeline and intellectual property expansion make its shares 'well-positioned to outperform,' wrote Jefferies analysts Atul Goyal and Shunki Nakamura in a note. (A previous story corrected the spelling of company name in fourth paragraph.) How Podcast-Obsessed Tech Investors Made a New Media Industry Russia Builds a New Web Around Kremlin's Handpicked Super App Everyone Loves to Hate Wind Power. Scotland Found a Way to Make It Pay Off What's Really Behind Those Rosy GDP Numbers? Cage-Free Eggs Are Booming in the US, Despite Cost and Trump's Efforts ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error al recuperar los datos Inicia sesión para acceder a tu cartera de valores Error al recuperar los datos Error al recuperar los datos Error al recuperar los datos Error al recuperar los datos
Japan Times
04-08-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Stocks in Japan slump after U.S. data spark growth worries
Japanese stocks fell after the latest U.S. jobs data raised concern over the world's largest economy. Banks and exporters led declines after the yen rallied against the dollar on speculation the Federal Reserve will cut rates. The broader Topix Index and the blue-chip 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell at least 2% in early trade, their largest intraday declines since April 11. The yen advanced 0.2% against the dollar before paring some gains to trade around ¥147.89 as of 10:30 a.m. The Japanese currency had surged more than 2% on Friday. The latest U.S. employment report showed the steepest downward revisions to jobs growth since the COVID-19 pandemic, with nonfarm payrolls being marked down by nearly 260,000 in May and June combined. The S&P 500 sank the most since May while the dollar snapped a six-day gain. "With this kind of data, investors will be worrying not about the possibility of a recession, but that we might already be in one,' said Kazuhiro Sasaki, head of research at Phillip Securities Japan. "That's being reflected in the weakening of the dollar and negative sentiment around stocks.' Banking shares were major losers Monday, with the Topix's gauge of lenders down as much as 4.4%, its biggest plunge since April 11. A murkier economic outlook in the United States will likely dampen expectations for a near-term Bank of Japan rate hike, weighing on banks' shares, said Sasaki. Overnight index swaps are pricing in a 34% chance of a rate hike by October, down from 43% on Friday. The drop in Japanese equities comes on the eve of the one-year anniversary of last August's market meltdown. The benchmark Topix plunged the most since 1987 on Aug. 5, 2024, following the BOJ's unexpected interest rate hike, coupled with economic concerns in the U.S. Before Monday's fall, the gauge had recovered about 30% since. "The situation is quite different from this time last year,' said Phillips' Sasaki. "Domestic demand-driven stocks still look solid,' with many investors expecting a boost in consumer spending if Japan's ruling parties concede to opposition calls for tax cuts following their recent election defeat, he added. Domestic-focused sectors like real estate, land transport and retail outperformed Monday, also helped by the stronger yen. Japan is in the middle of an earnings season, with the nation's biggest bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, as well as Sony Group and auto exporter Toyota, expected to report this week. "The rapid strengthening of the yen and weaker U.S. data imply tougher times ahead for large cap exporters,' though domestic-demand oriented small caps may benefit from a stronger currency, said Jamie Halse, chief executive officer at Senjin Capital. "When the U.S. sneezes, the world catches a cold, so I would expect increased caution amongst equity investors.'
Business Times
14-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
BOJ finishes offloading bank stocks, bringing focus to ETFs
[TOKYO] The Bank of Japan (BOJ) finished selling millions of US dollars of stocks it bought from besieged banks during a domestic banking crisis in the early 2000s and the later Lehman Shock, ending a nearly two-decade process and bringing closer market attention to the fate of its much bigger pile of exchange-traded funds. The BOJ's holdings of the shares purchased from banks hit zero as of Jul 10, falling from 2.5 billion yen (S$26 million) 10 days ago, according to its balance sheet report on Monday (Jul 14). It was well ahead of a self-imposed deadline of March next year, although the milestone was expected to happen around this time after a steady drop of roughly 10 billion yen per month in recent years. The offloading of the shares suggests that the BOJ's normalisation process more broadly could be accomplished without disrupting financial markets, although it would take a considerable amount of time. The assets were originally bought as a crisis response measure, years before the introduction of the massive monetary easing programme that governor Kazuo Ueda's board is now in the process of unwinding. 'The completion of the stock sales is one step towards ETF selling, but it's still too early to start that process,' said Kazuhiro Sasaki, head of research at Phillip Securities Japan. At a time when equity markets are already jittery around US President Donald Trump's trade policy, the BOJ will have to choose its timing carefully, Sasaki added. Between 2002 and 2010, the BOJ acquired about 2.4 trillion yen of stocks from private banks in two separate periods to help stabilise the financial system at the time – initially seen as extraordinary steps to take for a major central bank. The BOJ's actions in the years following have ultimately made those steps less shocking. The central bank became the biggest holder of Japanese stocks around 2020 and the size of the central bank's ETF holdings is now 15 times larger than the shares it obtained from beleaguered banks. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up In a report on Friday, Goldman Sachs economists noted that it's reasonable to expect the bank to start gradually selling ETFs in fiscal 2026 to minimise its loss and the impact on the stock market. It's taken the central bank nearly 18 years to offload the bank shares completely, after it first began selling in October 2007. If the BOJ applies the same selling pace it did for the bank stocks, it would take more than 200 years to completely offload the far larger ETF holdings from its balance sheet. 'It fulfilled the intended objective,' Ueda said at a press conference last month, referring to the bank stocks buying initiative. 'Offloading them isn't completely finished yet but so far it's been proceeding without negative market impact or financial loss for us.' Getting rid of the bank stocks entirely helps lower the hurdle to consider ETFs, as the simultaneous sale of both asset types could risk a overly large negative impact on the markets. Starting with the end of negative interest rates and expansionary asset purchases in March last year, the BOJ has been cautiously normalising policy, with the latest updated government bond buying plan in June illustrating its caution. One BOJ policy board member said in April last year that the bank should reduce the ETF holdings to zero even if it takes time. At the same time, Ueda has kept his options open – in March he did not rule out holding ETFs indefinitely. From the perspective of the BOJ's financial health, there is little need to rush to dispose of its stock fund assets. The bank earned 1.4 trillion yen in revenue from ETF dividends in the fiscal year ended in March 2025. That's offering sizable support for the bank's finances at a time when the cost of paying interest to banks is bound to rise further in tandem with rate hikes. The ETF profits have drawn attention from investors and politicians. Some opposition party lawmakers are already calling for using the BOJ's ETFs to fund government finances. Some analysts say that the BOJ could hand out the ETFs to the public. 'As I have said many times, there is no change in our stance to take time to consider what to do with the ETF holdings,' Ueda told reporters last month. BLOOMBERG
