Commentary / Japan Feb 15, 2016
by Takamitsu Sawa
The Bank of Japan's decision to adopt a minus interest rates could be immediately rendered meaningless by highly unpredictable political and economic trends abroad.
Business / Financial Markets Feb 9, 2016
Nikkei falls 918 points, bond yields go negative as investors flee for safest havens
Demand for safety forces the yield on Japanese government debt below zero.
Business / Financial Markets Feb 3, 2016
The Bank of Japan's decision to set negative interest rates has doomed the government's program to sell bonds to retail investors. The Ministry of Finance said it is canceling the planned sale of 10-year fixed-rate notes from Feb. 5 aimed at individual investors. The government already ...
Business / Financial Markets Jan 28, 2016
Mitsubishi Estate raises ¥250 billion in biggest bond sale of year
Mitsubishi Estate Co. raised ¥250 billion in the biggest Japanese corporate bond sale so far this year and the latest jumbo offer luring yield-hungry yen fixed-income investors with riskier notes. The four-part deal sold by Japan's largest property developer by market value included ¥75 billion ...
Business | ANALYSIS Dec 24, 2015
Japan's draft budget a firm move against fiscal headwinds
by Atsushi Kodera
The record ¥96.7 trillion draft budget for fiscal 2016 is by many measures a feat, a key push in the government's efforts to cut spending. But amid snowballing welfare costs straining already tattered finances, Japan is nowhere near the clear in its bid for fiscal ...
Business / Corporate Dec 18, 2015
Tepco expects 2016 profit even if reactors are not restarted, plans to issue bonds
Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the disaster-struck Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, expects to post a profit next year even if unable to restart any reactors, according to a plan given to its creditor banks. Tepco will likely turn a profit for the ...
Business / Financial Markets Nov 29, 2015
A year after China's financial regulators squared up to the systemic perils of "shadow banking," the threat is shifting to a booming corporate bond market, and risky borrowers' debt is finding its way into products aimed at retail investors. An opaque network of trust companies ...
Business / Corporate Nov 4, 2015
Sharp bond risk jumps as losses over 4½ years top $10 billion
Sharp Corp.'s default risk jumped to a two-year high as losses in the past 4½ years topped ¥1.2 trillion ($10 billion). The cost to insure the Osaka-based company's bonds against default climbed 219 basis points in two weeks to 858 basis points on Oct. 30. ...
Business / Corporate Oct 19, 2015
Tepco aims to raise ¥330 billion in first return to bond market
Tokyo Electric Power Co., manager of the meltdown-hit Fukushima No. 1 power plant, plans to issue corporate bonds for the first time in six years starting next April in an effort to raise ¥330 billion, sources close to the matter said Monday. The beleaguered utility ...
Business / Economy Sep 17, 2015
Standard & Poor's has cut the nation's long-term credit rating one level to A+, saying it sees little chance of the government's current strategy accelerating growth and inflation over the next few years. The downgrade, announced Wednesday, came just a day after the Bank of ...
Business Sep 16, 2015
Bank of Japan shields bonds from equity storm with steady buying
by Shigeki Nozawa
Amid a storm of volatility in Japanese stocks, the Bank of Japan has kept the bond market a pool of serenity. The Nikkei Volatility Index surged to 48.99 on Aug. 26, the highest since the disasters of March 2011, and was at 31.92 on Tuesday. Since ...