Goldman Sachs Sees $64 Billion in Buybacks Rescuing Japan Stocks

After Japanese stocks’ worst start to a year on record, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has a $64 billion reason to keep the faith.

Companies will buy back a record 7.5 trillion yen ($64 billion) of shares in the 12 months starting April, after 5.9 trillion yen of repurchases in the current fiscal year, strategists including Kathy Matsui wrote in a report dated Tuesday. That will help send the Topix index up 28 percent by year-end from Tuesday’s close, according to their projections.