THE Japanese market lacks direction, with domestic exposure continuing to be a barrier to growth, according to John Millar, manager of Martin Currie Pacific trust.
Millar explained that sentiment towards Japan has now reached an all-time low, with financial stocks looking particularly uninspiring. "Most of Asia has good growth from domestic buyers into the market," he said. "This is not the same in Japan, where they are sellers. Foreigners are also marginal investors and have been taking money out of the country." However, Millar added that valuations of Japanese companies have come down to more attractive levels with price/earnings ratios down to around 14 to 15 times earnings. "If earnings growth comes though, this might see more interest in Jap...
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