Chip supplier’s winning streak shows foreigners are returning to Japan

Bloomberg

The nonstop surge in global demand for electronics products combined with the recent flood of foreign funds into Japanese stocks has driven a record win streak in one of the world’s largest suppliers of chipmaking equipment.
Shares of Tokyo Electron Ltd gained 1.6% to a fresh all-time high on Wednesday, notching a 15th straight daily advance, its longest-ever win streak according to Bloomberg data. The stock soared 26% in that period, compared with a 5.5% gain for US-peer Applied Materials Inc and 2.3% rise in the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index.
Tokyo Electron’s rally is “symbolic” of foreign traders buying into Japanese equities, said Shuji Hosoi, a strategist at Daiwa Securities. “Foreign investors have been buying into Japanese large-cap and tech stocks since the end of August. They’re avoiding US markets amid concerns of tapering and the money is shifting to Japanese equities instead,” he said.
Overseas investors were net buyers of $6 billion worth of Japanese equities and futures in the week through September 3, the most since February, according to data from the Japan Exchange Group Inc. Market observers are hopeful of a continued inflow from overseas amid optimism over a new government and declining Covid-19 infections as the vaccination rate rises.
Concerns over the macroeconomic outlook may be nudging investors to buy into chip-related stocks, which are still benefiting from demand related to 5G technology, digital transformation, automobile electrification and decarbonisation, said Kazuyoshi Saito, a senior analyst at Iwai Cosmo
Securities Co. in Tokyo.
He added that Tokyo Electron’s rally may soon “pause for a breather” in the short term.