Abel says Berkshire will hold Japanese trading house shares for decades, causing trading company stocks to rise

Japanese trading company stocks rose on Thursday after Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel stated that the company plans to continue holding stakes in these trading companies for decades to come. Trading company stocks became one of the top-performing sectors among the TOPIX index constituents on Thursday. Mitsubishi Corporation once rose by 4.5%, reaching its highest level since May; Sumitomo Corporation, Mitsui & Co., Itochu Corporation, and Marubeni all rose by more than 2.5%. Berkshire currently holds about a 10% stake in each of these five trading companies. Abel, who replaced Buffett as CEO in January this year, said in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday that Berkshire’s holdings in Japanese trading companies are a “long-term investment” and the company plans to hold them for decades. Since Berkshire disclosed its holdings in 2020, the share prices of these Japanese trading companies have benefited from their association with Buffett. A market analyst from Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory said the renewed confidence from Abel “could rekindle investor interest in buying trading company stocks.”