The most comprehensive index of the Japanese stock market – the Topix – dropped significantly: -1,8% in the early Japanese afternoon. But this retreat needs to be put into perspective. The Topix will likely interrupt a 13-week streak of progress, the longest since 1973. Since November 14, when Japan's future election winner Shinzo Abe announced plans to pursue highly expansionary monetary and fiscal policies, the Topix had risen by around 30%, and the fundamental measures were not out of line, on the contrary: even today the capitalization of the Topix is equal to 1,1 times the book value, against 2,1 for the S&P500 and 1,5, 600 for the Eurostoxx XNUMX.
The mood is linked to fears that strong criticisms emerge in the G20 against Japanese monetary policy, which has the effect of weakening the yen and is accused of 'currency war', ignoring the fact that the yen was previously the currency that suffered the strongest real appreciation since the start of the great recession.
The euro and oil are stable, while gold continues its downward trend and is at $1633/ounce.
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