Fiscal loosening makes Japan more attractive than its peers

ON ASIA

Martin Currie's John Millar on 'exciting' news from Japan which will herald higher growth and a weaker yen

September saw a remarkable surge in Asian markets, leaving most major indices up more than 10% for the third quarter. As so often, the exception has been Japan, which eked out a barely positive third quarter. Despite a promising start to 2010, returns from Japan have been fairly horrid in the second half of the year – especially when compared with her Asian neighbours. But in recent weeks, the news from Japan has been just as exciting as the returns from other Asian indices. In the first move of its kind since 2004, the Bank of Japan (BoJ), at the prompting of the Ministry of Finan...