Stimulus boosts Japan

Article Excerpt

ISHARES MSCI JAPAN INDEX FUND $11.76 (New York Exchange symbol EWJ; buy or sell through brokers; us.ishares.com) is an ETF that tries to match the return of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Japan index. The fund has now regained all of the ground it lost in the recent market downturn. Its latest rise came after the Japanese government and the Bank of Japan announced huge increases in their economic stimulus programs. Under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s so-called “Abenomics” strategy, the Bank of Japan has pumped money into the country’s economy. However, consumer spending has remained sluggish, especially after the government raised the sales tax to 8% from 5% on April 1, 2014. The Bank of Japan will now accelerate its buying of government bonds to further expand the money supply. It will also triple its annual investments in Japanese stock ETFs to $26.7 billion from $8.9 billion. In addition, the huge Japanese Government Pension Investment Fund will double its…