Japanese Equities Rebound Post Election ShocksJapan’s October 28 elections delivered a surprise to the market with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)’s loss of the majority in the parliament. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba now faces the challenge of securing a majority in the 465-member Diet, Japan’s national legislature, in the coming weeks.
This political uncertainty has impacted the outlook for Japanese equities. Typically, such instability would weaken the equity market; however, a combination of a depreciating Yen and a "buy the news" rebound after two weeks of decline has led to a market recovery, with the Nikkei-225 rising 3.7% since the election results were announced.
This environment presents tactical opportunities for savvy investors, such as leveraging spreads between the concentrated large-cap stocks in the Nikkei-225 and the broader Japanese equity market through the AMEX:DFJ ETF.
Political Uncertainty a Concern for the Nikkei-225
Japan's October 28 election resulted in no party securing a majority, with the LDP and Komeito losing 64 seats, leading to a hung parliament. This uncertainty has raised concerns over the Nikkei-225, as the lack of a stable government could hinder decisive economic policy.
Historically, political instability tends to undermine investor confidence in Japanese equities, and analysts are now concerned about the ability of a weakened government to implement coherent economic policy.
Following the result, the Yen dropped to a three-month low of 153.88 per dollar, reflecting investor nervousness.
The Nikkei-225 rallied 3.7%, driven by a weaker Yen benefiting exporters like Toyota and Nissan. Analysts expect continued market volatility until a stable coalition is formed, with specific concerns around delayed fiscal measures and economic reforms that could weigh on investor confidence.
PM Ishiba’s Hawkish Tone Likely to be Tempered Even in Case of Victory
Shigeru Ishiba, recently appointed as Prime Minister, has expressed his intention to remain in office, despite facing a challenging re-election campaign after the disappointing outcome of his snap election. Analysts like David Roche from Quantum Strategy and Masahika Loo from State Street suggest his re-election prospects are slim.
PM Ishiba has historically supported the Bank of Japan's rate hike strategy and voiced concerns over yen depreciation. However, in light of the election results, his party may need to adopt a more populist stance to retain support, embracing dovish monetary policies and increased social spending.
Additionally, PM Ishiba has pledged to introduce a larger stimulus plan in response to the election outcome. This expanded stimulus could conflict with the BoJ’s monetary policy goals, likely prolonging yen weakness.
Weaker Yen Supports Nikkei-225
The weaker yen has been a key driver in Nikkei-225's recent stellar performance. A depreciating yen makes Japanese exports more competitive, directly benefiting major exporters such as Toyota and Nissan, which saw gains of over 4% on 28/Oct (Mon).
Mint Finance previously highlighted the inverse relationship between the Yen and the Nikkei-225.
Recently, however, this correlation has broken, with both the Nikkei-225 and the Yen declining over the past two weeks. Although post-election performance has brought a modest recovery in this relationship, fundamental concerns persist. With the Bank of Japan holding rates steady, the Yen is expected to weaken further. The outlook for the Nikkei-225 is less clear, as it benefits from a weaker Yen yet faces pressures from ongoing political uncertainty.
Key Technical Levels
Nikkei-225 is trading just above its long-term moving averages which have acted as support after being tested multiple times over the past few months. With the Nikkei-225 in a rising channel and above a support level, price may have some upside. However, the R1 pivot level at 40,525 may act as resistance as it previously has.
Nikkei-225 is currently in a price range dominated by buyers over the past month. Overall volume activity shows buyers have remained dominant according to the accumulation/distribution indicator. In case Nikkei-225 breaks out from this range, it is likely to see increased selling. This could lead to a period of consolidation at present levels, especially given the political uncertainty.
Hypothetical Trade Setup
Tailwinds from the weakening Yen intertwine with headwinds from the political uncertainty for Nikkei-225. Until clarity on economic outlook arises, the Nikkei-225 is likely to remain volatile. Due to the recent diverging performance, the effectiveness of a Yen hedge on the Nikkei-225 has decreased. While the Yen may continue to weaken, it is not likely to have a proportional impact on strengthening the Nikkei-225.
However, a weakening Yen also favours large cap stocks that comprise the Nikkei-225 relative to smaller companies such as those comprising the WisdomTree Japan Smallcap Fund ETF (DFJ), which provides broad exposure to Japan equities. DFJ is geared towards small cap firms and excludes the 300 largest companies by market cap. It also caps the maximum weightage of any single sector to 25% ensuring that the index is not impacted by any single sector.
By comparison, the Nikkei-225 index is a price weighted index which tilts its exposure towards expensive stocks, especially those from large companies. It also provides exposure to the technology sector in Japan which has outperformed recently due to the burgeoning chip industry. Mint Finance covered the breakdown of the index in a previous paper .
The spread between the Nikkei-225 and DFJ ETF has continued to rise over the past two years alongside the Japanese equity rally, though there have been periods of consolidation in between which small caps have managed to to catch up. The peaks in the ratio have been at times when the Nikkei-225 reached a new all-time-high while periods of consolidation following the peak have favoured the small cap equities.
This view benefits investors in case the Nikkei-225 retests its all-time-high in the near future. It also benefits from the fundamental drivers that favour the firms comprising the Nikkei-225 compared to the ETF.
Investors can express a view by buiding a long position in Nikkei-225 using CME Group futures and a short position in DFJ ETF. Nikkei-225 Futures on CME are available in a dollar denominated form, which negates currency impact from the weakening Yen.
For example, a long position in CME Group Nikkei-225 futures provides exposure to a notional value of USD 197,900 (USD 5 x 39,580 index price as of 30/Oct). This would require an extremely large position on the ETF leg to balance out the notional. Alternatively, investors can utilize the newly launched Micro Nikkei (USD) futures which are 1/10th the size of the standard Nikkei 225 futures contract with a notional value of USD 19,790 (USD 0.5 x 39,580).
Micro Nikkei (USD) futures are geared towards smaller notional sizes which allows for granular hedging and spreads as well as enhanced capital efficiency.
Since their launch on October 28, the contracts have experienced rapid growth and adoption. Over the past two days, 1,370 Micro Nikkei (USD) contracts and 4,141 Micro Nikkei (JPY) contracts have been traded. The contracts also shows a tight bid-ask spread and a liquid market, supporting capital-efficient trading.
The following hypothetical trade setup consists of long 1 x Micro Nikkei (USD) futures expiring in December and short 265 shares of WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Fund with a reward to risk ratio of 1.33x.
MARKET DATA
CME Real-time Market Data helps identify trading set-ups and express market views better. If you have futures in your trading portfolio, you can check out on CME Group data plans available that suit your trading needs tradingview.com/cme .
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