Mounting Bearish Bets on Japan Stocks Is Nothing to Worry About, Analyst Says
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Japan’s market is a on roll, with the Nikkei 225 Stock Average trading near a one-year high. And investors shouldn’t anguish over a rising number of bearish bets.
While there are almost twice as many put options as calls on the benchmark gauge -- the ratio between the two has hit a level not seen since February 2006 -- the increase in outstanding puts is partly due to traders selling those contracts because they don’t expect stock prices to fall much from current levels, according to Makoto Sengoku, a market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute Co. in Tokyo. The Nikkei 225 has rallied 17% in 2019, heading for a seventh year of gains in eight.