Goldman Sachs cuts Japan equity forecasts as foreign investors flee

Obstacles are piling up in Japan, everything from political scandal to a rising yen. Foreign investors are fleeing and now Goldman Sachs Group Inc. says its forecasts for stocks were too high.

The brokerage lowered its three-month target for the Topix gauge by 5.6 percent to 1,700, implying a slight decline from its current level. Goldman also reduced its six-month and 12-month targets 2.7 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively, to 1,800 and 1,950. The index closed at 1,817.56 points last year.

 

Foreign investors yanked 8.2 trillion yen out of Japanese stocks in the first three months of the year, mainly from futures, due to uncertainty surrounding domestic politics, a rising yen, global trade concerns and mixed macroeconomic data, according to Goldman.

 

“These headwinds will cap the upside for Japanese equities,” strategists led by Kathy Matsui wrote in a note dated March 29.