IShares MSCI Japan Index Fund $11.89 – New York symbol EWJ

Article Excerpt

ISHARES MSCI JAPAN INDEX FUND $11.89 (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’s top holdings include Toyota, 5.2%; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, 2.2%; KDDI Corp. (telecom), 2.0%; Softbank Corp., 1.8%; Honda Motor, 1.5%; Japan Tobacco, 1.5%; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, 1.5%; Sony Corp., 1.4%; Mizuho Financial Group, 1.3%; and NTT DoCoMo (telecom), 1.3%. Japan’s economy grew 1.9% in the first quarter of 2016, mostly on higher consumer spending. That was partly due to the government’s decision to postpone a scheduled sales tax increase. Since then, the value of the yen has jumped to an 18-month high against the U.S. dollar. That’s hurting exports, although it has cut the cost of major imports such as oil. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently won a “supermajority” government, with control over both houses of parliament. That will let him push ahead…