Barclays is expected to receive a $927 million capital investment from Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group as part of a plan to restore depleted capital, Bloomberg News reported Friday.

Barclays (NYSE: BCS), the United Kingdom's fourth largest bank, has been hurt by write-downs stemming from the end of the U.S. housing boom and subsequent mortgage and related asset-backed bond defaults.

Barclays' shares fell $1.29 to $24.28 on the news in Friday morning trading.

London-based economist Mark Chandler told BloggingStocks there are three positives stemming from the announcement. First, banking regulators in the U.K. will view it as "a coming to terms, something markets around the globe will also appreciate." Second, it demonstrates that investors "are still willing to jump into the pool and commit capital for less than ideal ventures, so you can see how the markets will look favorably on that." Chandler added that he does not have a rating on nor own shares in Barclays.

Japan's banks: capital to deploy

Finally, Mitsui's commitment to a bank abroad indicates that Japanese banks have repaired the worst of their balance sheets. "A Japanese bank would not commit funds abroad if their balance sheet was not solid," Chandler said. "Japan's banks have rebuilt their businesses, and are in better shape than they were a decade ago. Unfortunately, I'm afraid it looks like the world's bank concerns have shifted to the U.S. and U.K. for this decade."

Moreover, although Barclays' shares, as well shares of other banks and financial service companies, are likely to continue to be under pressure for the next few months, Chandler said investors should keep in mind the larger, credit market picture, which is brightening, in his interpretation.

"I know it's hard to do these days, as we're all a bit more trading oriented, but credit market conditions have improved," Chandler said. "More write-offs are ahead, but in terms of liquidity and credit market function, conditions have stabilized, and I think Mitsui's deployment of capital outside Japan is also further evidence of that, as well."