Japan Post Insurance is cautious about buying foreign bonds without a currency hedge due to the risk of the yen rebounding after its fall to a four-year low, a senior official said on Wednesday.
Japanese insurers are growing increasingly reluctant to buy foreign government bonds without a currency hedge, as they are not expecting the recent dollar rally against the yen to continue for much longer.
Sumitomo Life Insurance plans to step up investment in foreign bonds without currency hedge in the six months to March as it sees limited risk of a stronger yen, a top investment planning official said on Tuesday.
The Japanese government will raise 836.7 billion yen ($7.4 billion) from selling shares in Japan Post Holdings under a plan to secure reconstruction funding for areas hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, it said on Monday.
Japanese stocks dropped on Monday on disappointing earnings, with semiconductor-related shares among the hardest hit, taking their cue from falls in U.S. tech firms on poor earnings and concerns about the Federal Reserve's tapering.