Nomura Holdings, Inc.

Mitsui Fudosan and Nomura Real Estate on the 8th showed part of the large mixed-use complex Tokyo Midtown Nihonbashi, under development in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, to reporters. It is the fourth property under the Tokyo Midtown brand developed by Mitsui Fudosan, following Roppongi, Hibiya, and Yaesu, and is scheduled to open next year. The building will be completed on September 30, and the whole complex consists of four blocks. Office floors in the roughly 284-meter-tall mixed-use Nihonbashi Nomura Mitsui Tower will be occupied in stages by tenants including the headquarters of Nomura Holdings, and it will also house a hotel operated by Hilton and a hall capable of hosting international conferences. An energy center will be established underground jointly with Tokyo Electric Power Energy Partner, allowing stable supplies of electricity and heat even during power outages. The existing commercial facility COREDO Nihonbashi, which will form part of Midtown, will close in October and reopen as a commercial area next year.

The heads of five major financial institutions, including Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, attended a symposium hosted by Nikkei Inc. on the 8th, expressing positive views on rising domestic interest rates while also pointing out that the moves contain elements of a "bad rate rise" driven by fiscal concerns. Junichi Hanzawa, president of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, said that if the rise in rates reflects the economy's underlying strength and higher inflation, it should be viewed positively as part of economic normalization, while also acknowledging that a rise in risk premiums stemming from the market's view of fiscal sustainability is partly reflected. SMFG president Toru Nakashima likewise assessed the current rate rise as "largely the result of a good increase in rates," but said a certain number of investors are concerned about Japan's fiscal health, and noted that risks surrounding the situation in the Middle East are also partly priced into rates. Mizuho Financial Group president Masahiro Kihara cited as a risk the competition for long-term funding amid fiscal expansion by governments and strong investment demand centered on artificial intelligence and data centers, saying he sees an environment in which long-term rates could easily spike and is watching the impact on lower-rated companies. Views on the stock market were largely bullish: Nomura Holdings president Kentaro Okuda expects the Nikkei average to reach around 75,000 yen by year-end and sees a move above 80,000 yen by the end of 2027, while Daiwa Securities Group president Akihiko Ogino mentioned the possibility of 80,000 yen at year-end, 88,000 yen at the end of 2027, and 300,000 yen by 2045.

Nomura Asset Management will lengthen the evaluation period for its investment staff from the previous one, three and five years to three, five and ten years, shifting to an evaluation and compensation system that is less swayed by short-term performance. The change was disclosed by Shoichi Okoshi, who became president in April this year, in an interview with Reuters, in which he said that to win out in global competition, "investment capability is the very first priority." On pay as well, he said the company will "make pay-for-performance even more sharply differentiated," with a policy of clearly widening the gap according to investment results. Parent company Nomura Holdings acquired Macquarie's U.S. and European public asset management business for 1.8 billion dollars, or about 260 billion yen, last December and integrated it into Nomura Asset Management International; according to Okoshi, an emerging-market equity product was launched domestically in April this year as a publicly offered investment trust, and its assets have topped 200 billion yen. He said efforts are also under way to "export" Japanese and Asian equities through U.S. sales channels, while noting that although the firm is the largest in Japan by assets under management, it ranks only in the global top 40, and that expansion in the U.S. retail market is a challenge.

Capitolis announced the completion of $220 million in financing, comprising a $120 million Series E equity round at a $1.9 billion valuation plus debt. Citi led the equity round, with new strategic investors Bank of America, Nomura, and Tradeweb Markets joining existing investors Barclays, BNP Paribas, J.P. Morgan, State Street, and UBS. Debt financing will come from First Citizens Innovation Banking, Hercules Capital, and Pinegrove Venture Partners. The proceeds will support Capitolis' acquisition of eSecLending, adding securities lending to its financial resource optimization platform and expanding its network of institutional asset owners. FT Partners advised Capitolis on the transaction, with WilmerHale serving as its legal advisor and Goodwin Procter advising the banks.

Nomura Securities predicts that in an extreme scenario of continued yen depreciation, the Bank of Japan could raise interest rates at three consecutive meetings by December. Chief FX Strategist Yujiro Goto considers a 0.25 percentage point hike at the September meeting appropriate, and suggests that if the yen moves toward 160 again, consecutive hikes in October and December are possible. The market has fully priced in a September hike and also expects an additional hike by January. The stance of Prime Minister Takaichi and the moves of the Federal Reserve will be key.

Shiba Inu (SHIB) has closed above its 20-week moving average for the first time since September 2025, ending an 11-month downtrend, after Japan approved a Nomura-backed exchange to list the token. The token now trades at $0.00000528, down 4.27% in 24 hours, as it retests the breakout. Japan's Financial Services Agency registered Laser Digital Japan, a subsidiary of Nomura's digital assets arm, as a crypto asset exchange service provider, marking the first new exchange approval in the country in four years. SHIB is one of six launch assets, the only meme coin among them, and it joined the Japan Virtual and Crypto Assets Exchange Association Green List in November 2025. Meanwhile, an unidentified wallet withdrew 280.8 billion SHIB from OKX on August 24, worth roughly $1.56 million, and exchange reserves fell to 86.98 trillion tokens. SHIB ranks 31st by market capitalization at $3.11 billion. The weekly chart shows the trend change clearly, with SHIB rejecting the 20-week moving average near $0.00001000 in January and again near $0.00000650 in May, but now closing above it. Structure improved underneath, with a June low near $0.00000405 followed by a higher low near $0.00000445 in early August, and the week of August 17 gained about 25% on heavy volume. However, that candle wicked to roughly $0.00000620, stopping just short of the 0.382 Fibonacci resistance at $0.00000636, a level that has capped every rally since February. The daily chart places SHIB inside an ascending parallel channel, with price tagging the upper band near $0.00000600 on August 21 before reversing. Support at $0.00000531 now matters most, marking the channel midline, the July 26 swing high, and the 20-week moving average at once. Below it sits $0.00000499, and the channel base near $0.00000450. Reclaiming $0.00000553 would open $0.00000600 and then $0.00000636. The relative strength index has cooled to 58, with twin peaks near 77 suggesting momentum did not expand on the second push. Two caveats temper the case: a recent 441% burn rate spike removed only about $230 worth of SHIB, and Shibarium activity remains near 1,180 daily transactions. A team member has teased news from Shytoshi Kusama and Kaal Dhairya before August 31, but neither has confirmed it.

SoftBank Group filed an amended shelf registration statement with the Kanto Finance Bureau on the 24th for a corporate bond issuance of around 1 trillion yen. The bonds will have a maturity date of September 16, 2033, making them seven-year notes, with an indicative coupon range of 4.3 to 4.9 percent per annum to be set on September 4. The subscription period runs from September 7 to 16, with payment due on September 17. Eleven firms, including Nomura Securities, Daiwa Securities, and SMBC Nikko Securities, are underwriting the offering.

Nomura-backed Laser Digital Japan has secured regulatory approval as a crypto asset exchange service provider under Japan’s Payment Services Act, ending a four-year gap in new registrations. The company, the Japanese entity of Nomura’s digital assets subsidiary Laser Digital, announced the registration on Friday. It will initially focus on providing liquidity to local virtual asset service providers and plans to eventually offer digital asset trading services to institutional investors, though launch dates have not been announced. The approval follows Japan’s introduction of major crypto-related regulatory reforms, including rules covering stablecoins, and comes as a Nomura and Laser Digital survey found 65% of institutional investors see crypto assets as an opportunity to diversify portfolios, with nearly 79% planning to invest in digital assets over the next three years.

Japan's exports in July expanded 23.2% from a year earlier, the fastest pace since October 2022, supported by strong demand for artificial intelligence chips and automobiles, along with a weak yen that hit a 40-year low. The Ministry of Finance said exports of electronic parts, including semiconductors, rose about 49%, while imports increased 27.8%, leaving Japan with a trade deficit of 634.5 billion yen for a third straight month. Yuki Ito, an economist at Nomura Securities, said semiconductor manufacturing equipment exports are rising amid a rapidly expanding wave of artificial intelligence investment. Exports to the United States, China, and Europe rose 22%, 25.8%, and 19.1%, respectively.

Laser Digital, a Swiss entity under Nomura Holdings, has announced an investment in the crypto asset ZIG and a partnership with ZIG Markets, the financial products arm of ZIGChain. The two firms will jointly develop financial products for institutional investors on the blockchain, with the first offering expected within a few months. ZIG is the core crypto asset of ZIGChain, with a market capitalization of approximately 90 billion yen. Under the partnership, ZIG Markets will handle deal sourcing and infrastructure, while Laser Digital will support product structuring and risk management. The products under consideration will focus on private credit in emerging markets, as well as areas such as PayFi and lending for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The five major securities firms, including Nomura Holdings, have all reported their consolidated results for the April–June 2026 quarter, with every firm booking a sharp rise in profit. Rising interest rates spurred active bond trading, while higher stock prices, led by semiconductor-related shares, boosted brokerage commission income. Sales of discretionary investment products such as investment trusts and fund wraps also grew. Nomura Holdings posted a net profit of 145.5 billion yen, up 39.2 percent from the same period a year earlier. Daiwa Securities Group reported a net profit of 56.4 billion yen, up 80.6 percent. SMBC Nikko Securities saw its net profit jump 2.5 times to 26.7 billion yen. Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Holdings recorded a net profit of 49.4 billion yen, a 3.4-fold increase, while Mizuho Securities posted a net profit of 31.5 billion yen, up 72.6 percent. Business with institutional investors and investment banking operations handling M&A and other deals also drove performance.

Nomura Holdings posted a return on equity of 15.4% for the first quarter of fiscal year 2027, its highest level since the April-to-June quarter of 2020. Wealth Management net revenue rose 9% quarter-over-quarter to JPY 145.4 billion, with recurring revenue reaching an all-time high of JPY 59.2 billion and recurring revenue assets hitting a record JPY 31.7 trillion. Investment Management net revenue increased 14% to JPY 98.3 billion, while pre-tax income surged 148% to JPY 45 billion, the best performance since the division was established in April 2021. Wholesale net revenue grew 20% to JPY 369.1 billion, and pre-tax income jumped 116% to JPY 93.3 billion, both marking the highest levels since the division's creation in April 2010. CFO Hiroyuki Moriuchi noted that since July, wholesale net revenue has slowed somewhat due to seasonal factors and market corrections, but the pipeline remains favorable.

Nomura Holdings reported consolidated net profit of 145.5 billion yen for the April–June quarter of 2026, up 39% from the same period a year earlier. The company did not disclose a full-year forecast, but the average full-year consolidated net profit estimate among eight analysts polled by IBES stands at 399.9 billion yen.

The consensus forecast for Nomura Holdings' recurring profit rose 4.8% from the previous week's 541.9 billion yen to 567.683 billion yen. Compared with the prior-year result, the forecast has been revised upward from a 0.4% profit increase to a 5.2% profit increase. The rating consensus remains unchanged at 3.9.

Nomura's digital asset subsidiary, Laser Digital, has received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust bank charter in the United States. Upon final sign-off, the firm will be authorized to hold and administer both conventional and digital assets under federal supervision, focusing on institutional services and explicitly excluding deposit-taking and lending. The new subsidiary, Laser Digital National Trust Bank, aims to facilitate cross-border payments and collateral management across crypto and traditional markets. This expansion is supported by a clearer regulatory environment driven by legislative developments like the GENIUS Act, which have boosted institutional confidence in tokenized assets and stablecoins. The move reflects a broader trend of legacy financial institutions increasing investment in digital asset infrastructure, with at least 15 similar bank charter applications submitted to the OCC since 2025.

Nomura Holdings said wholesale revenue is running more than 30% higher year-on-year so far this quarter as of June 12, driven mainly by equity products. Shares climbed as much as 4.5% after the update, bringing this year's gain to 12%. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Francis Chan said Nomura could beat consensus expectations for a roughly flat 2.2 trillion yen top line in the year ending March 2027, pointing to wholesale strength and a 68% surge in Tokyo Stock Exchange cash-equity turnover so far in 2026.