Japanese retail investors are betting that the rapid rise in yen will be difficult to sustain. Even if the yen has risen to the highest level in months, they will continue to increase their bearish positions. According to data from the Japan Financial Futures Association and the Tokyo Financial Exchange, net short positions in yen held by individual Japanese investors last week are estimated to have reached 3.61 trillion yen, up from August. Previously, short positions in yen reached 4.41 trillion yen in July, the highest since 2015. Japanese retail investors have always preferred to move against the trend, selling when the yen strengthens and buying when it weakens. This is in stark contrast to foreign investors; as the yen soared, overseas investors cancelled arbitrage transactions funded in yen. Hedge funds have also established positions where the yen will further appreciate, and some funds are even betting that the dollar will fall below 150 against the yen by the end of the year. Speaking about Japanese retail investors, Masayuki Nakajima, a senior strategist at Mizuho Bank, said that if the yen continues to appreciate, these investors may eventually be forced to close their long positions in the US dollar. He said that investors will further sell the US dollar in order to stop losses at that time, which may in turn increase the yen's upward trend.

Japanese retail investors are betting that the rapid rise in yen will be difficult to sustain. Even if the yen has risen to the highest level in months, they will continue to increase their bearish positions. According to data from the Japan Financial Futures Association and the Tokyo Financial Exchange, net short positions in yen held by individual Japanese investors last week are estimated to have reached 3.61 trillion yen, up from August. Previously, short positions in yen reached 4.41 trillion yen in July, the highest since 2015. Japanese retail investors have always preferred to move against the trend, selling when the yen strengthens and buying when it weakens. This is in stark contrast to foreign investors; as the yen soared, overseas investors cancelled arbitrage transactions funded in yen. Hedge funds have also established positions where the yen will further appreciate, and some funds are even betting that the dollar will fall below 150 against the yen by the end of the year. Speaking about Japanese retail investors, Masayuki Nakajima, a senior strategist at Mizuho Bank, said that if the yen continues to appreciate, these investors may eventually be forced to close their long positions in the US dollar. He said that investors will further sell the US dollar in order to stop losses at that time, which may in turn increase the yen's upward trend.