One area, however, in which some banks have been maintaining, or even expanding, their activities is in the physical side of the commodity business, increasing holdings of physical products and investments in the supply chain. These activities are more akin to those traditionally being undertaken by the commodity trading houses themselves. Recently, investors have also grown more cautious, pulling back their commodity-related investments.
In the middle of fiscal 1996, public-sector investment began to decline gradually from its peak, while net exports, which had been restraining the economic recovery, started to rise, partly reflecting the depreciation of the yen.