The Japanese stock market has continued to show resilience despite the current heightened risk of global stagflation and rising geopolitical tensions. The benchmark Nikkei 225 and MSCI Japan have recorded a month-to-date return of +1.30% and +0.95% for May respectively at this time of the writing outperformed the US S&P 500 (-0.75%), MSCI Asia Ex Japan (+0.57%), MSCI Emerging Markets (+0.72%) and STOXX Europe 600 (+0.06%).
The Bank of Japan maintained its ultra loose monetary policy in the first rate-setting meeting chaired by Governor Kazuo Ueda and announced a broad review of the current stance.