Hot Japanese Stocks and Entertainment

Based on recent communications from the Bank of Japan (BOJ), polls suggest a 60% chance that the BOJ will hold rates steady at 0.25% again at the upcoming policy meeting on Jan. 23 (Thurs.) and 24 (Fri.) 2025. This would enable the BOJ governor Kazuo Ueda to further assess the impact of incoming US President Trump's trade policies on Japan. The BOJ is also interested in the outcome of Japan's spring wage negotiations and China's fiscal and monetary policies for 2025, largely determined by Chinese President Xi Jinping's priorities to revive growth in China. Fiscal policy involves government spending and taxation decisions made by the government to influence the economy, while monetary policy refers to the management of the money supply and interest rates by a central bank, like the Federal Reserve, PBOC and BOJ, to achieve economic goals. Both policies aim to stabilize and stimulate economic growth but operate through different mechanisms.

Nikkei225 Summary Thu 12 Dec 2024 - Japan’s Nikkei rises 476 points crossing 40,000 in the morning, mirroring Nasdaq's leap past 20,000 for the very first time overnight. This comes on the back of mild US CPI data for Nov at 2.7%, increasing just 0.1% from Oct and raising the prospect of a Fed 0.25% rate cut next week 18 Dec.(Wed) Additionally, polls suggest a 60% chance the BOJ will not raise rates at next week's policy meeting on Dec 18-19 (Wed-Thu) pending more information on new US trade policies and Japan's spring wage negotiations. BOJ also will likely do the politically correct thing to not spoil the christmas party. Nikkei225  39,849.14 (+476.91 +1.21%) 174 up 48 down 3 flat Topix   2,773.03 (+23.72 +0.86%)    REIT    1,633.98 (+0.18 +0.01%) JGB 10YR  1.051% (-0.0212)                              ...