As Nikkei eclipses 34-year record, derivatives signal stall ahead

As Japan's Nikkei catapults past its bubble-era peak and investors grow confident of future gains, flows in the derivative market points to a potential interruption in short-term momentum. During the upswing overseas hedge funds, including commodity trading advisors or CTAs, built significant long positions in Nikkei 225 futures. "They are looking for a timing to lock in profits from them," said Masanari Takada, a quantitative and derivatives strategist at J.P. Morgan Securities.