A look at the day ahead in European and global markets

By Ankur Banerjee, Asia Finance & Markets Breaking News Correspondent

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Japanese markets got a shot in the arm after the government indicated it wants the country's state pension funds to increase investments in ‌domestic assets, an eagerly awaited move to spur repatriation that had been mooted for years.

Japan's Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama attends the upper house budget committee session at the parliament in Tokyo, Japan April 7, 2026. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo

Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said Japan wanted to encourage pension funds, including the giant Government Pension Investment Fund, to make "substantially greater" investments in domestic financial assets.

GPIF, which is one of the world's largest pension funds, held 293.4 trillion ⁠yen ($1.81 trillion) in assets at the end of December. Its movements are closely watched by financial markets, as any change in strategy is often mirrored by other funds.

Concerns had been brewing over the Takaichi administration's expansionary fiscal policy, and the risk of political interference in monetary policy sparked a selloff in Japanese government bonds (JGBs), pushing yields to multi-decade highs earlier this week.

But the latest broadside lifted the yen, eased yield pressure and kept the momentum going for the Nikkei. The yen has been stuck near ‌40-year ⁠lows but firmed more than 0.5% to 161.45 per U.S. dollar after Katayama's comments.

Graphics are produced by Reuters

Meanwhile, the AI theme is well and truly back ahead of the high-profile U.S. market debut for chip bellwether and AI poster child SK Hynix later in the day as the South Korean firm raised $26.5 ⁠billion in its offering.

Chip stocks have lost some momentum in recent weeks after a stellar run, as investors fret about AI spending, sky-high valuations and the pace of profit growth.

But for now, investors ⁠are keen to see how the debut rerates SK Hynix versus its U.S. rival Micron, with the demand from retail investors also likely to be in ⁠focus.

Micron trades at a 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio of 6.66 times versus SK Hynix's 5.5 times.