News & Insights

In February, Japanese stocks reached new all-time highs as the ruling party’s landslide victory and the LDP’s post-war record of 316 seats strengthened Prime Minister Takaichi’s political base and boosted sentiment. Read our review here.

[External Link] Kei Fujimoto, Senior Economist at SuMi TRUST AM, shared his comments with the media on the Japan's 8th February Snap Election.

[External Link] Kazunaga Saso, Senior Portfolio Manager for SuMi TRUST AM's Sakigake High Alpha strategy was recently interviewed by Wealth Briefing in the run up to Japan's Snap Election on 8th February.

In January Japan’s equity market began the year with a rally, driven by optimism surrounding a possible dissolution of the House of Representatives which has now been confirmed, expectations of economic stimulus, and renewed inflows from foreign investors. The Nikkei 225 and TOPIX rose by 5.93% and 4.62% respectively.

In December, Japanese equities moved in a volatile yet mostly range-bound pattern, with the Nikkei 225 rising 0.2% to end the month slightly above 50,000, while the TOPIX gained 0.9%. Gains in financial stocks following the Bank of Japan’s rate hike offset weakness in semiconductor and IT-related shares.

[External Link] Kei Fujimoto, Senior Economist at SuMi TRUST AM, shared his comments with the media on the Bank of Japan's recent Monetary Policy Meeting.

In November, Japan’s equity market diverged as the TOPIX rose by 1.40% while the Nikkei 225 fell by 4.12%. Negative effects from a pullback in U.S. tech stocks were felt by AI and semiconductor-related stocks which particularly impacted the Nikkei 225 index.