Japan to play catch-up with global peers in 2022

LAST year was a challenging year for Japan equities. Japan battled multiple waves of the pandemic and underwent a gruelling period of being in a state of emergency (SOE), which held the region back from re-opening. As a result, the performance of Japanese equities has largely lagged developed market (DM) peers in 2021.

But this will likely change in 2022, in our view. Japan equities are starting the year on a much better footing. The economy is reopening, companies are witnessing a healthy earnings recovery, and equity risks have subsided. We are optimistic on the outlook of Japanese equities and will offer the reasons for that here.

* Improving macro backdrop, supportive policy direction