Japanese stocks hit new highs on Thursday with a whimper rather than a bang, greatly contrasting the noise around the yen’s recent fall to a 38-year low.
Analysts contacted on Friday about the rise of the 225-issue Nikkei average to an all-time record above 40,000 dispensed with celebratory remarks and got right down to the nitty-gritty, discussing more broadly trends in domestic equities without dwelling on the new high.
“It's hard to pin the latest rally entirely on fundamentals,” said Thomas Mathews, head of markets for Asia-Pacific at Capital Economics.