EWJ Stock Recent News

Japan's Topix stock index slid 24% from a record high reached last month and the Nikkei 225 Stock Average suffered its worst one-day slump in yen terms as investor confidence evaporated. Tony Sycamore, analyst at IG Australia, shares his take on the plunge in Asian stocks and Federal Reserve policy.

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.

EWJ tracks the MSCI Japan index with 210 stocks, has 0.5% expense ratio. EWJ has delivered solid return in the current bull market, with a good earnings growth outlook. The fund's valuation is not expensive, and has appreciation potential due to weakening U.S. dollar.

Strategists at Citi say it's time to election-proof portfolios, and that mostly means shedding overseas stocks, while loading up on banks.

Some South-East Asian economies' strategic advantages and supportive policies are propelling their emergence as a data center powerhouse.

In March, the Bank of Japan abolished its 8-year-old negative interest rate policy, hiking rates for the first time in 17 years by raising its benchmark rate to 0-0.1%. To combat inflation while also avoiding an excessive surge in interest payments, the BOJ is considering passive quantitative tightening.

We'd rather downplay the weaker-than-expected manufacturing data and focus on a solid recovery in retail sales and a reacceleration in inflation, which will be welcomed by the Bank of Japan. Inflation has been quite choppy due to various government programmes and utility prices.

Kei Okamura, Neuberger Berman SVP and Japanese equities portfolio manager, joins 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss whether buying Japanese stocks is still the hottest trade, where interest rates in Japan go from here, and much more.

By end-April 2024, Japanese equities had outperformed the FTSE All-World index over 12 months and in the year to date. Japan has undertaken significant structural corporate reforms in recent years.

iShares MSCI Japan ETF is the largest Japanese-focused ETF in the market with over $16.5bn in AUM. Japan's Q1 GDP which came out today, was worse than expected, with private consumption, which accounts for half the economy struggling to take off. EWJ is dominated by large industrial stocks, and the underlying conditions for these entities don't look too bright.