In today’s briefing:
- Nikkei 225 Vs TOPIX Dynamics
- Merger Arb Mondays (22 May) – HKBN, Newcrest, InvoCare, United Malt, Golden Energy, Penguin, Shinsei
- Korea: What Are Foreign Investors Buying & Selling?
- Meritz Financial: Main Target for Flow Trading in KS200 June Rebalancing
Nikkei 225 Vs TOPIX Dynamics
- This past week saw dramatic moves in Japanese stock markets. TOPIX +3.1% N225 +4.8% – up the 6th week in a row – closing at their highest in 33 years.
- Flows were positive the week before, and I expect we’ll see next week they were positive this past week. But most striking was the interplay between Nikkei 225 and TOPIX.
- If foreign inflows increase, Nikkei is likely to outperform TOPIX both because of its existence and previous use, and its construction. And that means watching one’s trades, shorts, and executions.
Merger Arb Mondays (22 May) – HKBN, Newcrest, InvoCare, United Malt, Golden Energy, Penguin, Shinsei
- We summarise the latest spreads and newsflow of merger arb situations covered by us across Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Chinese ADRs.
- Highest spreads – 111 Inc (YI US), Estia Health (EHE AU), HKBN Ltd (1310 HK), United Malt Group Ltd (UMG AU), Hailan Holdings (2278 HK), Aag Energy Holdings (2686 HK).
- Lowest spreads – Healius (HLS AU), Liontown Resources (LTR AU), Lian Beng (LBG SP), SBI Shinsei Bank (8303 JP), Allkem Ltd (AKE AU), Penguin International (PBS SP).
Korea: What Are Foreign Investors Buying & Selling?
- Foreign investors have been buying stock in Korea. They now hold 32% of the KOSPI market cap and 18.5% of the KOSDAQ market cap.
- As a percentage of market cap, foreigners have been big buyers of Yg Entertainment, Hyundai Rotem and Meritz Financial Group. Selling has been on Ecopro Co and Posco Future M.
- Shorts have increased on Ecopro Co Ltd (086520 KS) and Posco Future M (003670 KS) while there has been covering on Kakao Pay (377300 KS) and POSCO Holdings (005490 KS).
Meritz Financial: Main Target for Flow Trading in KS200 June Rebalancing
- Meritz Financial confirmed the total number of treasury shares resulting from the mergers, amounting to 5.04% of SO. When combined with the largest shareholder’s stake, the float rate becomes 47.75%.
- We should focus on direct rebalancing flow through KS200 ETFs on T-1 effective rather than setting it up preemptively. The estimated total AUM of ETFs directly mirroring KS200 is ₩17T.
- Meritz Financial is expected to receive an inflow of around ₩43B, equivalent to 1.35x ADTV. This is a significant flow impact size as a single-day event.
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