iShares JPX-Nikkei 400 ETF

JPXN

Market cap $132M

The Bank of Japan is set ​to raise interest rates to a 31-year high next week and signal its readiness to keep pushing up borrowing costs, undeterred by ‌the absence of its governor as it focuses on countering inflation risks from the Middle East war.

Japan has secured stable oil supplies through the end of March 2028 despite the Iran war through a combination of alternative crude ​imports and stockpile releases, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Thursday, extending ‌the country's previous supply outlook by around one year.

Heading into a defining week, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda's absence leaves the central bank with a jarring optics problem just as it seeks to cement its ​credibility as an inflation fighter and convince markets it means business.

Japan's three largest banks said on Wednesday they will jointly issue stablecoins during ​the current fiscal year ending in March ‌2027, a sign of growing momentum for digital payments in a country where cash and credit cards remain ​popular.

Japanese investors sold foreign stocks at the fastest pace in about five years in May, as caution over Middle ​East hostilities and concerns that a tech-driven market rally ‌had run too far weighed on sentiment.

Despite recent foreign-exchange intervention, the Japanese currency has weakened again to near the 160 threshold against the dollar, a level seen as a potential trigger for more government action.

JGBs edged higher in the morning Tokyo session, tracking overnight price gains in U.S. Treasurys.

Japan plans to rebuild between two and five ageing nuclear reactors by the 2040s and as many ​as 11 to 14 by the 2050s as it ‌aims to secure stable power supply, public broadcaster NHK reported, citing a draft policy to be presented on Friday.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group plans to double revenue from its sales and trading unit to 800 billion yen, or about $5 billion, within the next few years as Japan's shift away from ultra-low rates drives demand for market products. Arihiro Nagata, head of the bank's global markets division, told Reuters that the business currently generates about 400 billion yen in revenue.

Asian equities fell on Thursday as renewed fighting between the United States and Iran pushed investors back towards safer assets, even as oil prices eased after Israel and Lebanon moved to implement a ceasefire. MSCI's Asia-Pacific ex-Japan index dropped 1.5%, while S&P 500 e-mini futures slipped 0.5%.