Tokyo Market Summary: The Nikkei Average is 117 yen higher, and the Bank of Japan's interest rate hike forecast for the year accounts for 80%, the highest increase to 40% in October - Survey

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The Bank of Japan's interest rate hike forecast for the year accounts for 80%, and the most increase to 40% in October - survey
80% of economists anticipate that the Bank of Japan, which raised interest rates for the first time in 17 years in March, will go through additional interest rate hikes by the end of the year. As for the specific timing, October is 40%, which is the most common. According to a survey conducted by Bloomberg on 54 economists on 12-17, the total forecast for additional interest rate hikes by the end of the year was 81%, up from 64% in the previous survey conducted immediately after the March monetary policy meeting. While the October meeting increased to 41%, the July meeting decreased to 19%. The previous 11 percent September meeting continued at 17 percent. Last time, October was the most competitive (26%), and July was 23%.
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From now on, interest rates will be raised gradually and government bond purchase amounts will be adjusted - Bank of Japan Committee Noguchi

7 bonds, including US Berkshire and yen-denominated bonds 263.3 billion yen 3-year bonds
A US investment company led by famous American investor Warren Buffett $Berkshire Hathaway-B(BRK.B.US)$The conditions for issuing yen-denominated corporate bonds were decided on the 18th. There are 7 bonds: 3-year bonds, 5-year bonds, 6-year bonds, 7-year bonds, 10-year bonds, 20-year bonds, and 30-year bonds, totaling 263.3 billion yen. This is the 8th time since 2023/11 that yen denominated bonds have been issued. It will be issued on 4/25.

Three US cloud companies invest 4 trillion yen in Japan Oracle is 1.2 trillion yen
paddy $Oracle(ORCL.US)$It was announced on the 18th that it will invest 8 billion dollars (about 1.2 trillion yen) in data centers in Japan over the next 10 years. $Microsoft(MSFT.US)$The total amount of investment in Japan announced by the three US cloud companies this year is approaching 4 trillion yen. The aim is to capture demand from governments and companies while considering “data sovereignty,” which manages one's own country's data domestically.

Corporate Governance Reforms Are Endless; Improving the “Quality” of Information Disclosure Is Necessary - Mr. Yamamichi JPX
CEO Yamamichi Hiroki of the Japan Exchange Group believes that there is no end to corporate governance (corporate governance) reforms for listed companies, and the future has entered a stage where quality will be raised, such as disclosure of corporate information including disclosure in English and discussions at board meetings. Mr. Yamamichi compared governance reforms to mountain climbing and said, “The corporate governance mountain is probably endless,” and expressed recognition that continuous efforts by companies are necessary. The formal basic part led by the Tokyo Stock Exchange for reform has been solidified to some extent, and it is expected that the focus will shift to substantial improvements in the future, such as increasing the quality of discussions at each company's board of directors meeting.

G7 statement confirms recognition that excessive exchange rate fluctuations have an adverse effect on the economy - Kanda Treasurer
Treasurer Masato Kanda told reporters on the 17th (local time) at the 7 major countries (G7) finance ministers and central bank governors meeting held in Washington, USA, that he had reaffirmed his commitment that excessive fluctuations in exchange rates would adversely affect the economy in a joint statement.

Notable stocks
Disco, ad tests, etc. are rising and getting stronger, and there is momentum in TSMC's strong return to receiving strong financial results
$Disco(6146.JP)$、 $Advantest(6857.JP)$Buybacks of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to major brands are currently accelerating. The largest semiconductor contract manufacturer in Taiwan announced today at around 2:30 p.m. $Taiwan Semiconductor(TSM.US)$The financial results for the fiscal year ending January to March 24 recorded record highs for the same period in both sales and final profit, and surpassed prior market expectations.
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Taiwan TSMC had the highest profit, increased 8.9% from January to March, and performed well for generative AI

Petroleum-related stocks such as INPEX are weak, and WIT prices fell due to an increase in US crude oil inventories ◇
$Inpex(1605.JP)$Ya $Japan Petroleum Exploration(1662.JP)$Petroleum-related stocks such as these are weak. The US crude oil futures exchange rate on the 17th fell to 82.69 dollars per barrel, 2.67 dollars lower than the previous day for the May term of WTI (West Texas Intermediate). It was sold at $82.55 at one point, at the level it had been since late March. Since US crude oil inventories announced by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) increased beyond market expectations, crude oil prices fell due to sales wary of deterioration in supply and demand.

Nippon Steel - repulsion for the first time in 3 days Joint statement on Mr. Biden's speech
$Nippon Steel(5401.JP)$Rebound for the first time in 3 days. The company and $United States Steel(X.US)$On the 18th, they issued a joint statement regarding US President Biden's speech made the day before. According to the NHK report on the same day, President Biden visited the headquarters of the steel industry labor union in eastern Pennsylvania and made a speech, stating that “it should completely continue to be an American company” regarding the acquisition plan of US Steel by the company, and once again emphasized negative thoughts about the acquisition.

Fujifilm stock price temporarily falls 6.3% management plan “slightly negative”
$FUJIFILM Holdings(4901.JP)$fell sharply, and it temporarily depreciated 6.31% to 3233 yen. On the 17th, a three-year medium-term management plan up to the 2027/3 fiscal year was announced. Consolidated operating profit (US standard) for the final year is planned to be 360 billion yen, a 30% increase from the forecast for the fiscal year ending 24/3, but it did not reach 373.4 billion yen (as of the 15th, 5 companies) of the QUICK consensus average market forecast average, and sales are expanding.

Disgusted by the 12% depreciation of SoftBank G-arm stocks
$SoftBank Group(9984.JP)$has plummeted. It is reported that the stock price of Arm Holdings, which the company invests in, fell 12% lower than the previous day to 107.56 dollars in the US market on the 17th.