iShares JPX-Nikkei 400 ETF

JPXN

Market cap $142M

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said ​on Monday she did ‌not see a need "for now" to compile a ​supplementary budget aimed ​at cushioning the economic blow ⁠from the Middle ​East conflict.

iShares JPX-Nikkei 400 ETF is rated a buy, leveraging a rigorous screening process for fundamentally strong, shareholder-friendly Japanese stocks. JPXN benefits from Japan's robust economic momentum, record export growth, and new opportunities in defense exports, especially for industrial-heavy portfolios. JPXN offers compelling dividend growth, outpacing peers, with Japanese companies now paying out 40% of profits as dividends—surpassing S&P 500 averages.

Nikkei 225 struggles below 50,000 as upside momentum fades. Daily RSI drifts into neutral territory, signaling consolidation.

The Nikkei 225 falls to 49,303 as rate-hike odds for December 19 approach 80%. Electronics, pharma, and industrials lead declines as liquidity expectations tighten.

Nikkei closes at 51,063, extending gains for a second session. Manufacturing confidence hits a four-year high as exports strengthen.

Solid growth and ongoing shareholder-friendly reforms are driving Japanese equity gains, keeping us overweight. We see the AI theme playing out globally.

As the global private equity industry took tentative steps toward recovery in 2024, Japan raced ahead. The value of private equity investment in Japan jumped nearly 41% over the prior-year total in 2024, far outpacing the 25% year-over-year gain in global private equity deal value, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

Today's data were a mixed bag, but the Bank of Japan will pay more attention to the sharp rise in Tokyo's inflation. Tokyo consumer prices rose more than expected to 2.6% YoY (vs 2.2% in July, 2.3% market consensus).

The “real” policy rate is massively negative, with the new policy rate of 0.25% far below Core CPI of 2.6%. When QT reaches about ¥3 trillion per month in 2026, it would represent a reduction of its JGB holdings of about 0.5% per month.

Japan has been struggling for some time to generate enough velocity in inflation to escape the gravitational pull of deflation. The story for the rest of 2024 and into 2025 is now centered on whether inflation will be sustained at the BOJ's 2% target.