Japanese companies boost wages in departure from 'lost decades'
Japan's largest employers announced record pay increases on Wednesday. Every spring, unions and management hold talks, known as shunto, to set monthly wages ahead of the start of Japan's fiscal year in April. Toyota Motor, Hitachi and Panasonic Holdings were among the companies that on Wednesday fully met labor unions' demands to raise wages. Nippon Steel's response exceeded the union's demands, raising monthly wages by a record 35,000 yen ($237), or 14%. Toyota did not disclose details of its wage increases but said it fully met union demands. The Toyota Motor Workers' Union has demanded a record bonus payment worth 7.6 months of salary, citing the company's all-time high annual operating profit forecast of 4.5 trillion yen for the current fiscal year. The union has also proposed specific demands for each job category, up to a 28,440 yen monthly wage increase. Hitachi and Toshiba said their pay hikes are the largest since the current negotiation style was introduced in 1998. According to the Japan Council of Metalworkers' Unions (JCM), an alliance of unions in the manufacturing industry, 87.5% of member organizations had their demands either fully met or exceeded. source : nikkeiasia
78% of equity options throughout the world were traded in India last year.
Look at this growth since the onset of Covid! Source: Barchart
International allocation Japan vs China
Source: BofA, The Daily Shot, Win Smart
The decade of India?
India inks ‘watershed’ $100 billion free trade deal with four non-EU nations. India will lift most tariffs on several sectors with Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein in a free trade agreement. New Delhi expects the agreement to generate $100 billion worth of investment over 15 years and 1 billion jobs in the world’s fifth-largest economy. https://lnkd.in/eTG7n-ZW Source: CNBC
Bank of Japan boj now owns nearly 60% of the entire Japanese government bonds
Source: Game of Trades
Japan | Yen Gains With Bank Stocks as Wages, BOJ Remarks Boost Hike Bets – Bloomberg
The yen climbed to a one-month high and Japanese bank shares rose after wage data and a Bank of Japan board member’s remarks bolstered speculation the authority will raise interest rates this month. Japanese government bonds extended their drop as data from an auction of 30-year debt indicated weak investor demand for long-maturity securities ahead of the expected BOJ shift. Policy-sensitive two-year notes also fell, with their yield climbing to 0.195%, the highest level since 2011.
Apple's iPhone sales tumble 24% in China, its biggest Asian market, losing out to Huawei, according to Counterpoint Research data
Source: Bloomberg
Japan's Nikkei smashes 40,000 barrier as Asia markets track Wall Street gains
Source: HolgerZ, Bloomberg
