Japan’s economy grew at an annual pace of 5.4 percent last quarter, boosted by improved consumer spending and exports, the government said yesterday.
On a quarterly basis, Japan’s real GDP, which measures the value of a nation’s products and services, grew 1.3 percent in the final three months of last year, Cabinet Office data showed.
Growth got a boost after measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 were lifted last year.
The restrictions asked restaurants and bars to close early and large-scale events to be canceled or held with limited crowds.
The latter part of last year had seen people starting to travel again,
Global funds ditched JGBs in 2020 for first time in seven years Sorry, but your browser needs Javascript to use this site. If you re not sure how to activate it, please refer to this site: https://www.enable-javascript.com/
Investors in Japanese government bonds are now wary of the Bank of Japan s policy review. | BLOOMBERG
Bloomberg Feb 9, 2021
Global funds turned net sellers of Japanese government bonds last year as exceptionally low volatility reduced trading opportunities and as they poured money into supersafe treasury bills.
Overseas investors offloaded a net ¥2.79 trillion ($26.5 billion) of JGBs, the first drop since 2013, according to the latest balance-of-payments data. They still bought a total of more than ¥3 trillion of other types of Japanese debt including bonds issued by government agencies, local governments and other entities and a record amount of treasury-discount bills.
These Are the Winners and Losers in Japan’s 2020 Stock Market
Bloomberg 12/30/2020 Kurt Schussler
(Bloomberg) More time at home, reduced mobility and billionaire Masayoshi Son helped drive stocks in Japan in 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic became the dominating force separating winners from losers.
While the stay-at-home trend boosted game makers and online retailers including Nexon Co. and Mercari Inc., heightened health concerns saw drugmakers and medical-care innovators such as M3 Inc. also feature among the biggest gainers. At the other end of this teeter-totter were companies that thrive on domestic movement and foreign tourism: stocks tied to oil and autos, railways and airlines, as well as brick-and-mortar retailers.