Japan: Weekly ETF and CEF Performance

Japanese stocks and ETFs posted broad gains last week. The Nikkei 225 added 2.7% and is now within striking distance of calendar year and multi-year highs. Closed-end funds led all advancers as their market-NAV discounts narrowed.

At 17,958.88 as of Friday's close, the Nikkei 225 is within 1.9% of its 52-week and multi-year high of 18,300.39 (intra-day; it closed at 18,215.35) set on Feb. 26. (See chart below: 6/1)

So far in early Monday trading, the Nikkei 225 is up 0.6% around 18,060. Note the broader TOPIX is about 3.1% off its 52-wk/multi-year high of 1,823.89 set 2/27.

The 10 Japanese ETFs (including 2 CEFs) trading in the U.S. gained a combined average 2.9% last week and are now back in positive territory for the year (+1.6%).

Here's their combined average return over the past several weeks:

05/18 - 05/25: +0.3%
05/11 - 05/18: -3.4%
05/04 - 05/11: +0.4%
04/27 - 05/04: +0.8%
04/20 - 04/27: -1.7%
04/13 - 04/20: +0.6%
04/05 - 04/13: -0.9%
03/30 - 04/05: +0.7%

See the chart below for more details of last week's and ytd returns.

Click to enlarge chart

Disclosure: The author does not own shares of any funds mentioned in this article.

The Japan Smaller Cap Fund (JOF), one of two closed-end Japan funds, led all advancers again, +4.5% and is now down under double-digits year-to-date, -8.7%. The Japan Equity Fund (JEQ) [closed-end] posted the second best return last week, +3.5% and is now up 3.7% for the year.

Vanguard's Pacific Stock ETF (VPL) still leads all Japan ETFs year-to-date (+6.8%) as it more than recovered a 0.6% loss two weeks ago, gaining 2.7% last week.

iShares MSCI Japan Index (EWJ), the most actively traded country-based ETF, gained 2.8% and is up 3.3% for the year.

As reported in recent weeks, the yen continues to trade at an all-time low against the euro and is now around a 3 1/2 year low around the 122 level against the US$. See the chart below of the CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust (FXY) ETF, which was launched earlier this year.

For your reference, here's a list of the 10 funds surveyed in this weekly summary:

iShares MSCI Japan Index (EWJ)
iShares S&P/TOPIX 150 (ITF)
Japan Equity Fund, Inc. (JEQ)
Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund, Inc. (JOF)
SPDR Russell/Nomura Prime Japan (JPP)
SPDR Russell/Nomura SmallCap Japan (JSC)
Vanguard Pacific Stock (VPL)
WisdomTree JP High-Yielding Equity (DNL)
WisdomTree JP SmallCap Dividend (DFJ)
WisdomTree JP Total Dividend (DXJ)