by Martin Armstrong
Armstrong Economics
The Nikkei (cash) really hit the tiles today (-2.3%) having received confirmation of the delay to the Sales Tax and its two year reschedule. The JPY saw the flight to quality resulting in a 1% rally to hit a 108.50 high. 10yr JGB’s traded from -10bp to -11.5bp. As stated yesterday it will not be long before we start to hear from concerned ratings agencies, as government debt now exceeds 200% of GDP. We did see some safe-haven moves away from Japan entirely with stronger closes in both China and Hang Seng markets. In late US futures trading the Nikkei has regained 1% while HSI and China 300 rallied 0.5%.