Global TradFi & Macroeconomics

For the week ending August 14, foreign investors reduced net purchases of Japanese government bonds by 12.499 trillion yen, compared to a revised net outflow of 567 billion yen in the prior period.

Foreign investors had net outflows of 12.499 trillion yen from Japanese bonds during the week ended August 14, compared to net outflows of 587 billion yen in the previous week.

Japan's adjusted merchandise trade balance for July came in at 685.6 billion yen in deficit, falling short of the forecasted 407.6 billion yen deficit. The result shows a modest improvement from June's 881.9 billion yen deficit.

Japan purchased 1.39 trillion yen in foreign stocks in the week ended August 14, according to official data. The prior week's figure was revised down to 927.4 billion yen from the initially reported 963.5 billion yen.

According to Japan's Ministry of Finance, the country's exports rose 22% year-over-year to the United States in July, while exports to the European Union increased 19.1% and shipments to Asia grew 24.5%.

South Korean Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol announced on August 20 that the government will consider declaring Geoje and Tongyeong in South Gyeongsang Province as special disaster zones following flood damage. Speaking at an emergency economic headquarters me

Japan's seasonally adjusted merchandise trade balance fell to a deficit of 697.93 billion yen in July, worse than the expected deficit of 442 billion yen and compared to a deficit of 881.9 billion yen in

Japan's unadjusted merchandise trade balance for July came in at a deficit of 634.5 billion yen, beating the forecasted deficit of 649 billion yen. The figure marks an improvement from June's deficit of 406.9 billion yen.

According to Yonhapnews, on August 20, South Korea's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yoon-chul announced that the 9th oil price cap will take effect from midnight on August 22, with the specific rate to be announced on August 21 at 7 p.m. The decision will factor in recent rises in in

Japan's exports in July rose 23.2% year-on-year, exceeding economist forecasts of 20.1% and the previous month's 19.3% growth.

Japan's merchandise exports rose 23.2% year-over-year in July, exceeding the forecast of 19.9% and accelerating from the previous month's 19.30% growth. The stronger-than-expected performance reflects robust international

Japan's unadjusted merchandise trade balance for July came in at -634.5 billion yen, better than the forecast of -680 billion yen. The prior month's figure was revised to -409.9 billion yen from an initial -406.9 billion yen.

Foreign investors made net purchases of 621.2 billion yen of Japanese equities during the week ending August 14. The previous week's figure was revised to negative 368.6 billion yen (net sales).

Japan purchased 11,351 billion yen in foreign bonds in the week ending August 14, according to official data. The previous week's figure was revised upward to 16,367 billion yen.

Japan's commodity imports surged 27.8% year-over-year in July 2026, exceeding the forecasted 26.5% and marking an acceleration from June's 25.40%, according to official data.

According to Federal Reserve meeting minutes released on August 20 following the July 28-29 policy meeting, multiple officials favored rate hikes, with Dallas Federal Reserve President Lorie Logan, Cleveland Federal Reserve President Beth Hammack, and Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel

According to Korea Exchange, South Korea's exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw daily average trading volume drop 47.6% to 17.44 trillion won in the first three weeks of August (August 3-19), down from 33.29 trillion won in July. The decline follows stricter regulatory measures on single-stock

Korean stocks triggered a trading halt mechanism on the 19th as the KOSPI index plunged 5-6% in early trading, with semiconductor giants SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics falling nearly 10% and approximately 7% respectively. The sharp decline followed a surge in global long-term interest rates, with

S&P upgraded SK Hynix's credit rating to A- from BBB+ on August 19, citing robust memory market fundamentals and the company's technological leadership in high-bandwidth memory. The rating agency attributed the upgrade to anticipated strong revenue growth driven by surging DRAM and NAND prices and s

Korea Gas Corporation reduced its 3-year bond issuance to 800 billion won on the previous day, down from an initially planned amount around 1 trillion won, despite receiving 2.4 trillion won in orders. Last week, Korea Electric Power Corporation similarly cut its issuance from a planned 5 trillion w