By Summer Zhen

HONG KONG (Reuters) -Global hedge funds ramped up risk appetite and added exposure to Japanese equities ahead of the Nikkei’s surge to an all-time high as tariff worries eased, while stepping up short positions in South Korea, a Morgan Stanley note showed.

Hedge funds boosted gross exposure to Japan “in relatively large size” last week, with long bets outpacing short positions, according to a Morgan Stanley prime brokerage team note sent to clients on Tuesday, following a July pullback in positions.

A fund manager survey by BofA showed that within Asia, Japan continues to be the most favoured market by a significant margin.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei rose above 43,000 for the first time on Wednesday, with the broader Topix index also hitting an all-time high.

Uncertainty

See Full Page