News & Insights

TOPIX ended up on the previous month-end. The Japanese equity market was driven by the US equity market throughout the month. At the beginning of the month, the market rose on the good progress of the vaccination program in Japan. The market plunged after an earlier than expected tapering was hinted at by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) followed by a sharp fall in the US equity market. However, the market gradually offset the fall as US interest rate stopped rising towards the month-end.

TOPIX ended up on the previous month-end. The market was supported by a pause in the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Japan and expectations for the progress of vaccination program whilst the market was temporarily impacted by a plunge of US IT stocks following a hike in US treasury rate in mid-month. The state of emergency in Japan which was extended by another month to mid-June but it did not affect the market.

TOPIX ended down on the previous month-end. The third announcement of the state of emergency in Japan due to resurgence of COVID-19 cases weighed the market. The COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Japan has been slow compared with other developed countries due to supply shortage and delays, which depressed the market.

TOPIX ended up 4.80% on the previous month-end. The expectations for global COVID-19 vaccinations and US additional economic stimulus underpinned the Japanese equity market although concerns over the hike in US interest rates still remained. The Bank of Japan decided at a monetary policy meeting that they would exclude Nikkei 225 ETF from their ETF buying list, which impacted the Nikkei 225 index.

TOPIX ended up 3.08% on the previous month-end. The expectations for a recovery of company’s earnings and US additional economic stimulus pushed the market higher. The market lost the momentum in the latter half of the month due to the decline of the US equity market following a sharp hike in US bond yield but closed higher than the previous month-end.