Japanese Retail Investors Positive About Yen, US Dollar

by David Kimberley
  • Nomura Securities' quarterly retail investor report also found that investors were least positive about the yuan
Japanese Retail Investors Positive About Yen, US Dollar
Bloomberg
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Nomura Securities released its quarterly survey of Japanese retail investors this Thursday.

The firm, which provides a range of financial services to retail investors, found that investors were most likely to trade in Japanese Yen.

Of the investors surveyed, 38.2 percent said that they found their native currency most appealing.

Falling just short of that figure was the US dollar. 37.8 percent of respondents to the Nomura Securities survey said they found the American currency appealing to trade in.

Conversely, just 1.3 percent said they thought the Chinese yuan would be a positive investment. And worryingly for Brits, only 1.6 percent said they would invest in the pound.

These results were, more or less, in line with last quarter's research.

Dollar down

The major difference on this occasion was that the dollar was considered a better investment choice than the yen three months ago.

In its retail surveys, Nomura Securities creates a 'diffusion index' by subtracting the percentage of people that said currency was an unappealing investment option from the percentage that said the opposite.

Last quarter, the diffusion index for the US dollar was 34.9 percent. For the Japanese yen, it was 26.6 percent.

But this year the figures were almost equal, with the yen having a diffusion index of 30 percent and the US dollar a diffusion index of 29.8 percent.

These results did not necessarily reflect any great belief in the importance of the currency markets.

Nomura Securities' survey also found that only around 7 percent of retail investors believe currencies are going to impact the global financial markets. That was compared to approximately 72 percent of respondents that said international affairs were most important in affecting market performance.

Nomura Securities released its quarterly survey of Japanese retail investors this Thursday.

The firm, which provides a range of financial services to retail investors, found that investors were most likely to trade in Japanese Yen.

Of the investors surveyed, 38.2 percent said that they found their native currency most appealing.

Falling just short of that figure was the US dollar. 37.8 percent of respondents to the Nomura Securities survey said they found the American currency appealing to trade in.

Conversely, just 1.3 percent said they thought the Chinese yuan would be a positive investment. And worryingly for Brits, only 1.6 percent said they would invest in the pound.

These results were, more or less, in line with last quarter's research.

Dollar down

The major difference on this occasion was that the dollar was considered a better investment choice than the yen three months ago.

In its retail surveys, Nomura Securities creates a 'diffusion index' by subtracting the percentage of people that said currency was an unappealing investment option from the percentage that said the opposite.

Last quarter, the diffusion index for the US dollar was 34.9 percent. For the Japanese yen, it was 26.6 percent.

But this year the figures were almost equal, with the yen having a diffusion index of 30 percent and the US dollar a diffusion index of 29.8 percent.

These results did not necessarily reflect any great belief in the importance of the currency markets.

Nomura Securities' survey also found that only around 7 percent of retail investors believe currencies are going to impact the global financial markets. That was compared to approximately 72 percent of respondents that said international affairs were most important in affecting market performance.

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