Equity profits beat global fall as market gathers momentum

Despite the fall in global equities in May, the Japanese stock market continues to gather momentum with some rapid price rises among small stocks. According to Andrew Gibbs, fund manager for the New Star Japan Recovery fund, the equity market took the ending of the 0% interest rate policy with aplomb, boosted by better than expected first quarter results. He explains: "Profitability has continued to blossom and Japanese equities have gained 3.5% since the end of June but are still 0.5% below their New Year level. The recovery in profitability is predominantly among domestically oriented...