Service-related consumption starts moving
Tuesday, March 23, 2021, Clear Weather
- The government will formulate a new target for greenhouse gas reductions by 2030.
It will broaden the reduction target beyond the conventional goal and clarify a path toward a decarbonized society that achieves net-zero emissions by 2050.
It will be finalized by no later than the June G7 summit of major seven leaders.
- On the 22nd, the European Union (EU) adopted sanctions on Chinese authorities and others for the improper treatment of Uyghurs, a minority group in China, constituting human rights abuses.
The sanctions against China are the first in about 30 years and were enacted on the same day.
The move seems aimed at signaling a cooperative stance as U.S. Secretary of State Blinken visits Europe for the first time since taking office on that day.
- On the 22nd, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced sanctions on ten EU parliamentary figures and German scholars and related organizations involved in anti-China sanction measures.
They will restrict travel of those involved in the sanctions against China and their families to mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
- Toshiba <6502> [Closing price 3,890 yen] will enter the drone countermeasures service business by using drones to repel suspicious drones (small unmanned aircraft).
It will invest 15 million dollars (about 1.6 billion yen) in U.S. startup Fortem Technologies (Utah), which has technology to autonomously track and capture aircraft.
By combining Toshiba’s radio wave detection technology with this, use is expected at airports, nuclear power plants, and other facilities.
- On the 22nd, the Tokyo Stock Exchange saw the Nikkei average drop 617 yen (2%) from the previous week’s close, a sharp decline.
With the decision that U.S. bank capital rule relaxations would end last weekend, the Bank of Japan <8301> [Closing price 45,500 yen] reassessed its holdings of exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Uncertainty stood out, and profit-taking selling increased as investors eyed year-end March earnings.
Furthermore, a factory fire at Renesas Electronics <6723> [Closing price 1,138 yen] on the 19th is expected to take about a month to resume production.
As automakers are urged to cut production due to a shortage of automotive semiconductors, shares of automakers and parts makers fell as the impact was expected to persist.
- Which mid-sized companies are increasing sales under the coronavirus pandemic?
Nikkei Inc. ranks about 1,000 listed companies with sales under 10 billion yen in the 2021 fiscal year under the NEXT 1000 initiative, forecasting revenue growth for 2021 (the year ended March).
Among the leaders were companies capturing demand related to "stay-at-home" trends such as e-commerce and digital transformation (DX).
In first place is E-Store, an EC site construction support company <4304> [Closing price 2,352 yen], with forecast sales for the year ending March 2021 up 2.1x from the previous year to 10.3 billion yen.
6th place is Itsumo <7694> [Closing price 4,105 yen], supporting corporate entry into e-commerce and sales expansion.
3rd place is SREHD <2980> [Closing price 4,315 yen], providing cloud services that use AI to improve operations for small and medium real estate companies.
In a low interest-rate environment, demand is strong in investment real estate development projects, with 2021 March sales forecast up 92% year-on-year to 7.4 billion yen.
× ![]()
