Morning Bid: Japan calling capital home

A look at the day ‌ahead in ​European and ​global markets from Ankur Banerjee

Japanese markets got a shot in the arm after the government indicated it wants the country's state pension ‌funds to increase investments in domestic assets, an eagerly awaited move ⁠to spur repatriation that had been mooted for years.

Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said Japan wanted ‌to encourage pension funds, including ‌the giant Government Pension Investment Fund, to make "substantially greater" investments in domestic financial assets.

GPIF, which is one of the world's largest pension funds, held 293.4 ​trillion yen ($1.81 trillion) in assets at the end of December. Its movements are closely watched by financial markets, as any change in strategy is often ⁠mirrored by other funds.

Concerns had been brewing over the Takaichi administration's expansionary fiscal policy, and the risk of ​political interference in monetary policy sparked a selloff in Japanese government bonds (JGBs), pushing yields to multi-decade highs earlier this week.

But ​the latest broadside lifted the yen, eased yield ‌pressure and kept the momentum going for the Nikkei. The yen has been stuck near 40-year lows but firmed more ⁠than 0.5% to 161.45 per U.S. dollar after Katayama's comments.

Meanwhile, the AI theme is well and truly back ahead of the high-profile U.S. market debut for chip bellwether and ⁠AI poster child SK Hynix later in the day as the South Korean firm raised $26.5 billion ​in its offering.

Chip stocks have lost some momentum in recent weeks after a stellar run, as investors fret about AI spending, sky-high valuations and the pace of profit growth.

But for ‌now, investors are keen to see how the debut rerates SK Hynix versus its U.S. rival Micron, with the demand ‌from retail investors also likely to be in focus.

Micron trades at a 12-month forward ⁠price-to-earnings ratio of 6.66 times ‌versus SK Hynix's 5.5 times.

Key ​developments that could influence markets on Friday:

Economic events: June inflation data for Germany and France

(By Ankur Banerjee in Singapore; Editing by ‌Jamie Freed)

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