Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc

On December 31, 2015, the banking industry of the iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ) returned -0.4%. The Wisdom Tree Japan Hedged Equity ETF (DXJ) fell by 1%.

Prime Minister Abe’s administration initially achieved coordination between the Bank of Japan’s QQE and fiscal stimulus.

The Bank of Japan will set two interest rates: a short-term policy rate and an operating target for long-term interest rates. These rates will serve as guidelines for market operations.

As Kuroda pointed out, the primary reason inflation hasn’t risen in Japan is what he calls the deflationary mindset—the view that prices will not rise.

The Calamos International Growth Fund – Class A (CIGRX) has been a below average performer in 2016 year-to-date among the 12 funds chosen for this review.

The Bank of Japan gave its economic outlook after the monetary policy meeting on July 29. The weak data are due to the slowdown in emerging economies.

The Japanese yen gained strength during mid-July due to growing uncertainties surrounding the BOE’s (Bank of England) monetary policy.

Flows into investment-grade bond funds were positive last week. Investment-grade bond funds saw net inflows of $907.1 million during the week ending July 6.

2016 year-to-date has been great for the Matthews Asia Dividend Fund – Investor Class (MAPIX).

The Calamos International Growth Fund – Class A (CIGRX) seems to be cautious about its portfolio positioning for now.

The Matthews Japan Fund – Investor Class (MJFOX) rose 0.3% in the first four months of 2016, placing it third among the nine funds in this review.

Industrials, consumer discretionary, healthcare, and consumer staples form the core of HJPNX. These four sectors combine to form 72% of the portfolio.

Financials were the biggest negative contributors to CNJFX’s total returns in the first four months of 2016.

The AB International Growth Fund is invested in companies like Roche Holding (RHHBY), Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), ING Groep (ING), TAL Education Group (XRS), and Tata Motors (TTM).

The WisdomTree Japan Hedged Financials (DXJF) seeks to provide exposure to the Japanese financial sector.

The US dollar–Japanese yen currency pair has been one of the most volatile developed country currencies in the past six months. The Japanese yen saw heavy appreciation in August.

The Matthews Asia Dividend Fund focuses on income and aims “to provide a level of current income that is higher than…Asian equity markets.”

The US dollar to Japanese yen currency pair, which is inversely related to the Japanese yen, had a remarkable week beginning Monday, February 1, 2016. It fell from close to 121 to a low of 115.

The US dollar-Japanese yen currency pair is inversely related to the Japanese yen. It rose to a high of 121.68 after the BoJ’s (Bank of Japan) monetary policy.

The Matthews Japan Fund – Investor Class (MJFOX)adopts a bottom-up approach to constructing portfolios. This means that it looks at companies with acceptable valuations that are expected to do well in the future, rather than specific industries.

The Hennessy Japan Fund – Investor Class (HJPNX) was managing $128 million in assets at the end of December 2015.

The Fidelity Japan Fund (FJPNX) did not have a good 2015 as its stock picks from the information technology and materials sectors did badly during the year.

On January 4, 2016, Toshiba (TOSBF) was the top performer of the iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ).

The BoJ made it clear that a strong yen isn’t something that it wants. The expectations of a strong yen are mainly due to the economy.

The US dollar-Japanese yen currency pair is inversely related to the Japanese yen. It fell by more than 1% on December 18 after the BoJ’s monetary policy.

The Japanese yen was trading with a slightly stronger bias against the US dollar on December 14, 2015. Investments increased in the safe-haven currency.

On December 11, 2015, DXJF closed at $25.57. This was below its 100-day, 50-day, and 20-day moving averages of $27.71, $27.39, and $27.47, respectively.

The Japanese yen gained early on December 8, 2015, as GDP (gross domestic product) figures were upwardly revised.

On Monday, December 7, 2015, the stocks at the top of the iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ) were Amada Holdings, Mixi, and TDK.

To understand what drove EWJ and what pulled it down on November 27, 2015, it’s important for investors to analyze the performance of the various industries in EWJ that day.

Leading Japanese banking companies like Sumitomo Mitsui and Mizuho declared that they would realize investment gains by selling stock holdings on their latest earnings.

The rise of geopolitical tension in Syria Today, on November 24, with Turkey shooting down a Russian plane near the Syrian border, meant that there was again demand for safe-haven currencies.

Fukuoka Financial Group returned 2.8% on November 19, 2015. Moody’s, the global credit rating agency, upgraded the bank’s outlook to positive in September 2015.

The US dollar to Japanese yen currency pair fell by 0.59% on November 19. The pair fell to a low of 122.6, before closing the day at 122.9.

On November 18, 75% of the portfolio holdings of the iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ) closed above their 100-day moving averages—up from 66% on November 17.

The US dollar-Japanese yen currency pair rose nearly 0.8% on November 16. The currency pair reached a high of 123.3 before closing for the day at 123.2.

On November 13, 2015, 76% of the holdings of the iShares MSCI Japan ETF closed above their 100-day moving averages as compared to 67% on November 12.

DXJF is the only ETF to provide exposure to Japanese financial stocks. Trading activity in the DXJF fund has been scarce, with only a few thousand shares trading hands each day.

The Japanese yen rose versus the US dollar on October 30, 2015, as the Bank of Japan kept rates unchanged at 0.1%.

An analysis of the iShares MSCI Japan ETF will tell us about more about its Volatility, showing the fluctuation in periodic returns from average returns.

The EWJ ETF is an indicator of the Japanese equity market. On October 27 it fell by 0.80% from the previous trading session, ahead of the Bank of Japan’s meeting.

The Japanese Yen rallied against the US dollar on October 27, 2015, after a massive fall in the currency last week.

The iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ) fell 0.08% from the previous day to close at $12.50 on October 26 ahead of the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy review on Friday, October 30.

The iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ) is a well known US-traded ETF that provides exposure to Japanese equities.

The Hennessy Japan Fund (HJPNX) dived by 8.2% in September from the previous month—the worst performer in September among the nine funds we’re reviewing.

The Hennessy Japan Fund Inv Class seeks “long-term capital appreciation by investing in stocks of Japanese companies” and has 22 holdings as of September.

For Japan, a major obstacle to the productivity growth in the economy is still its demographics. The median age in Japan is 46 years.

Japanese housing starts rose in July 2015, but their pace slowed compared to a month ago. Housing starts rose by 7.4% in July compared to a year ago.

Policymakers and investors have been worried about Japan’s debt burden becoming unmanageable. The International Monetary Fund noted that Japan’s debt could near 300% of its GDP mark by 2030.

Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda kept the rates unchanged at 0.1% in the monetary policy statement announced on Friday.

In this series, we’ll look at the International Monetary Fund’s expectations for economic growth around the world, and we’ll explore how these projections might affect your investments.

Investment-grade corporate bonds worth $55.4 billion were issued in the primary market in the week ended July 17, 2015. The number of issuers rose to 20 from 17 in the previous week.

Usually governments are reluctant to pursue structural reforms. The reforms are difficult and complex to undertake. They can face stiff opposition.