News & Insights

TOPIX ended down on the previous month-end. Concerns over an increase of COVID 19 variant cases capped the upside of the Japanese equity market throughout the month. Whilst a rise in US equity market and a solid Japanese economic statistics supported the market, the announcement of the fourth state of emergency in major cities in Japan following the spread of COVID 19 due to the variant, shaved investors’ sentiment and fuelled uncertainty over the outlook for the recovery of economic activities.

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.