Corporate sector brings good news

The Japanese stock market has made a solid start to the year. Economic data has been mixed but going forward we are expecting some rebound following the soft patch encountered during the second half of last year. Nevertheless, the main reasons for confidence are still more at the company, rather than the macro-economic level, as the overall rate of growth in the economy is likely to be fairly modest. The main impetus for share price appreciation in Japan will come from the efforts of well-managed companies to boost profits by reducing costs and improving returns to shareholders - it is a...