
In today’s briefing:
- Fast Retailing (9983) Capping Decision This Week – Single or Double Dose?
- TOPIX Index Upweights: An Early Preview Of “The Big April Basket” 2025
- Fanuc (6594) | Robots in Reverse
- EQD | Nikkei Index Options Weekly (January 20 – 24): Looking for an Assist
- Japan Business Systems (5036 JP) – Aiming to Be Japan’s No.1 Cloud Integrator
- Startia Holdings (3393 JP) – Cheerleading Company for the Digital Shift of SMEs in Japan

Fast Retailing (9983) Capping Decision This Week – Single or Double Dose?
- Unless Fast Retailing (9983) underperforms Nikkei 225 by 10% by Friday close, there will be a capping exercise at the next Nikkei 225 Rebalance at the end of March 2025.
- The evolution of tech stock movement in Japan in the next day or three is important to watch. There will be effects.
- The setup very near-term could be pretty interesting, and worth watching.
TOPIX Index Upweights: An Early Preview Of “The Big April Basket” 2025
- The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) calculates Free-Float Weight (FFW) for each listed company and uses this value as a key component of TOPIX Index Calculation.
- For companies with “low liquidity” the FFW will be multiplied by a fixed liquidity factor of 0.75 to derive the final FFW used for index calculation.
- Every April, the application of this liquidity factor is reviewed by the TSE. In this insight, we take an early look at what could happen in April 2025.
Fanuc (6594) | Robots in Reverse
- Consolidated net sales slipped 0.4% to ¥197 billion, while operating income slipped 14.6%, hitting ¥34.9 billion
- The yen’s Q3 weakness erased ¥11 billion in unrealised inventory profits, dragging reported operating profit below expectations
- Recovery in order book is key positive. However, given the stock’s outperformance over the past 3 months, there is less upside.
EQD | Nikkei Index Options Weekly (January 20 – 24): Looking for an Assist
- Nikkei back at the top of the price range rising 3.85%. Gains may be more limited from here without an assist from the currency.
- Implied vols softened on the week from a combination of factors includes low realized volatility on the week.
- Active trade in Put and Call strikes at the edge of the recent trading range.
Japan Business Systems (5036 JP) – Aiming to Be Japan’s No.1 Cloud Integrator
- In the Company’s stated goal aiming to become the No.1 cloud integrator in Japan, the importance of its close relationship with Microsoft cannot be overstated.
- JBS became certified as a Microsoft Partner in 1995, and it was awarded Microsoft Japan Partner of the Year for the first time in 2007.
- JBS has been recognized as Microsoft Japan Partner of the Year for 12 consecutive years from 2013 – 2024, reflecting its business strategy to focus on cloud migration/integration during that period.
Startia Holdings (3393 JP) – Cheerleading Company for the Digital Shift of SMEs in Japan
- Startia Holdings, Inc. (hereafter, the Company) is a corporate group providing IT solutions mainly to SMEs.
- Its core businesses consist of its IT infrastructure segment and its digital marketing segment which provides the Cloud CIRCUS digital marketing tool as a SaaS offering.
- The IT infrastructure segment promotes “defensive DX” providing one-stop solutions and DX to IT-related issues for customer companies through merchandises such as office automation equipment and network services, while the digital marketing segment promotes “offensive DX” with the aim of helping them acquire new customers and expand sales. By conducting