The rally in global equities that started in late 2022 has gathered pace this year. A brighter economic outlook and the expectation of rate cuts to come have boosted equities around the world.
On average, global equity markets are up 9 per cent this year. The US market has so far returned 14 per cent, continuing a long trend of outperforming global markets. Among developed markets, the star performer has been Japan, long the Cinderella of the global equity market.
After Japan’s stock market crash in 1990, Japanese equities declined for more than two decades. You get a sense of the deflationary pressures at work from the…