News & Insights

In March Japanese equities continued their strong performance. The Nikkei 225 briefly reached the 41,000 yen level before returning to hover around the 40,000 yen mark. Gains were centred around large cap value stocks with foreign investors remaining net buyers of Japanese equities for the third month running.

[EXTERNAL LINK] SuMi TRUST's Chief Strategist, Katsutoshi Indome's comments on the Bank of Japan's monetary policy shed light on the direction of Japan's economy.

In February Japanese equities performed unprecedentedly well, bringing the Nikkei 225 to a historical high of 39,426 yen on the 27th February. This surge was primarily driven by positive corporate earnings announcements and the expectations for continuous monetary easing policies. Foreign investor trading volume continued to be high for the second month running, which was a supporting factor for the market.

[EXTERNAL LINK] In an article with Nikkei Asia, Yoshio Hishida, chief executive officer at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management, discusses SuMi TRUST's presence in the Middle Eastern region, which accounts for 90% of the firm's assets from overseas.

In January, Japanese equities rebounded in price due to a weaker yen and higher U.S. stock prices. The TOPIX surged by 7.8% to its highest point in the past 2 months, while the Nikkei 225 reached the 36,000-yen level, up by 8.4%. Growth factors dominated towards the beginning of the month, but were overtaken by value factors in the latter half of the month. Meanwhile large cap stocks outperformed this month.