Abe's third arrow flies with Nikkei 400 launch

The new JPX-Nikkei 400 index launched in January as part of a package of measures aimed at increasing the value of Japanese financial assets. But can it help maintain the revival in the region? Annabelle Williams reports.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s huge programme of fiscal stimulus and monetary easing was met with euphoria in 2013, but it is the third arrow of structural reform which is widely considered the real medicine the ailing economy needs. The Nikkei 225 rose 48% over the year to 24 December 2013, as the effects of the first two ‘arrows’ in the three-pronged ‘Abenomics’ approach were immediately apparent in a weakened yen and the emergence of inflation. But all eyes are now on the much promised third arrow. One measure that could help usher in structural change is the launch of a new index foc...