Starting with the Nikkei average rising by 476 yen, full-scale normalization of the Bank of Japan began in fiscal year 25, and interest rate hikes “about a jab” this fall - Mr. Sakurai

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4 reasons why the yen cannot be saved even with historical interest rate hikes, and the low altitude flight of interest rates and fluctuation rates
Despite the Bank of Japan's decision to raise interest rates for the first time in 17 years, the yen exchange rate has not rebounded as much as expected by government and Bank of Japan officials who want to reduce the risk of import inflation. Rather, most strategists believe that the yen depreciation trend will continue for the time being, and they have cited 4 points as reasons.

The yen exchange rate, 140-150 yen at the end of the year, Mr. Kaida of State Street Silver
The depreciation of the yen has been accelerating since the beginning of 2024. Currently, it is moving in the low range for the first time in about 34 years, with 1 dollar = in the middle of the 151 yen range. We asked Kazushige Kaida, financial market manager of the Tokyo branch of the State Street Bank, about the outlook for the yen exchange rate by the end of the year.

The Bank of Japan will fully normalize after fiscal year 25, and interest rates will also be raised “about a jab” this fall - Mr. Sakurai
Former Bank of Japan deliberation committee member Sakurai Makoto said that if the sustainability of positive changes in the Japanese economy can be confirmed, there is a possibility that the Bank of Japan will raise additional interest rates to 0.25% as early as October. Full-scale normalization will occur after 2025, and they expressed the view that the pace of interest rate hikes is also expected to accelerate depending on the economy and price conditions.

Immediate remittance of international payments with digital currency, the Central Bank of Japan, the United States, and Europe experiments
Seven central banks, such as Japan, the US, Europe, etc., and private banks will embark on a demonstration experiment of international payments using digital currency. The aim is to make it possible to immediately settle the exchange of trade fees, etc. at a low cost. Based on the results of the demonstration experiment, if settlement using central bank digital currency (CBDC) is put into practical use in the future, there is a possibility that the current cross-border settlement system will be overwritten.

Rakuten G's dollar bonds decided to be issued on a scale of 300 billion yen - strong increase in demand due to high yields
$Rakuten Group(4755.JP)$The conditions for issuing dollar-denominated corporate bonds were decided in overseas markets on the 3rd. According to people familiar with the situation, since demand from investors was strong, the amount issued increased from 1.25 billion dollars, which was examined at 2 billion dollars (about 303 billion yen).

The rise in the SOX index and the depreciation of the yen, which are highly related to semiconductor manufacturing equipment such as Laser Tech and ToElec ◇
$Lasertec(6920.JP)$ 、 $Tokyo Electron(8035.JP)$ 、 $Disco(6146.JP)$Semiconductor manufacturing equipment related products, etc., have generally demonstrated strength and are oriented towards higher prices. With Lasertech at the top, they have monopolized the top 3 trading price players in the Prime market every day, which shows the high level of attention in the market.

The yen interest rate business for city and regional finance is doing well - expanding at 3 times the pace expected
paddy $Citigroup(C.US)$Citigroup Securities, which is under its umbrella, is growing yen interest rate business transactions with regional financial institutions. Strengthening began at the beginning of the year in anticipation of the cancellation of the negative interest rate policy by the Bank of Japan, but currently it is expanding at a pace of 3 times compared to expectations.

Kao - Buying Feeling Oasis Management is conveyed to the company as a request to focus on cosmetics
$Kao(4452.JP)$It's a buying trend. Reuters reported on the 4th that the investment fund Oasis Management requested the company to focus on international growth of cosmetics and skincare brands.