maine-- its not all rosey news (for those short) from Japan though,,,,,,,,
TOKYO, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Japanese investors plan to put more
money in U.S. stocks on improving earnings and a rosier economic
outlook but will cut back on domestic assets, a Reuters poll on
global asset allocation for December showed on Friday.
A survey of 11 institutions, taken between November 22 and
25, showed fund managers intend to boost their allocation in
global stocks to 50.6 percent from 49.5 percent in the previous
month -- above 50 percent for the first time since the July poll.
But they are bearish on global bonds as their allocation
plans fell 1.1 percentage points from the October survey to 39.3
percent, while those for cash were unchanged at 10.1 percent.
"We are bullish on stocks in the near term, so it's better to
go slightly overweight," said Hiroshi Unno, global strategist at
Nomura Securities.
Katsuhiko Mitsumune, head of research at Kokusai Asset
Management, also intends to raise the weighting in stocks on
expectations that the market will rise towards the year-end.
U.S. SHARES FAVOURED
By region, the survey highlighted a flow into the United
States and out of Japan.
Weightings in U.S. shares hit their highest in two years at
48.5 percent, up 2.3 percentage points from the previous survey.
Japanese shares are turning less popular with allocation
plans falling 1.5 percentage points to 20.1 percent.
The euro zone was almost unchanged at 13.8 percent -- up a
meagre 0.2 percentage point from the previous poll.
Fund managers say U.S. shares look relatively cheap now,
while healthy personal consumption also adds to their bullish
views about Wall Street.
Junya Naruse, senior strategist at Daiwa Institute of
Research, said worries over U.S. corporate earnings and the
situation in Iraq had become excessive and shares seem
undervalued.
Japan offers a sharp contrast to the United States, with
investor pessimism mounting on concerns over the government's
economic policies.
"I have absolutely no hope for Japan's policy," said
Kokusai's Mitsumune.
Others say the government has failed to come up with any
concrete measures for its anti-deflation and bad-loan cleanup
package unveiled in late October, so market sentiment is likely
to stay weak unless government plans are made clear.
Respondents expect the Nikkei stock average <.N225> to trade
between 7,500 and 10,000 in December, down from a range of
8,000-11,000 in the previous survey.
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