Japan: Weekly ETF and CEF Performance

Every Japanese ETF trading in the U.S. posted a loss last week, as well as the two Japan closed-end funds, which paced decliners.

Japanese stocks came under broad selling pressure Monday (7/23), following weakness in the U.S. Friday and ahead of parliamentary elections this weekend. As Japanese earnings season kicks into full swing, it appears political uncertainty will keep pressure on stocks.

The Nikkei 225 lost 1.1% to 17,963 Monday (7/23), closing below 18,000 for the first time in six sessions and reaching below 17,900 intra-day for the first time in three weeks.

According to data from the Nikkei Shimbun, as of Friday's close, the N225 components have a price-to-book ratio of 2.07, ttm p/e of 20.71, f/p/e of 19.49 and a dividend yield of 1.07% (expected) and 1.0% ttm.

See the chart below of the N225 as of Friday's close.

See the chart below for last week's and ytd returns of the 10 Japanese ETFs (including 2 CEFs) trading in the U.S.

Click to enlarge chart

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

Vanguard's Pacific Stock ETF (VPL) lost the least last week, -0.6%, maintaining its lead over rival Japan ETFs (ytd +8.6%).

iShares MSCI Japan Index (EWJ), the most actively traded country-based ETF, fell 1.2%, and is now up only 2.8% for the year.

Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund, Inc. (JOF), one of two Japan closed end funds, lost 5.3%, increasing its ytd loss to 7.6%.

Japan Equity Fund, Inc. (JEQ), the other closed-end fund, lost 2.3%, making it flat for the year.

The yen strengthened more than 1.1% against the U.S. dollar in Tokyo Monday (7/23) taking it to a 1.5 month high and reversing four months of a downtrend in the yen against the dollar.

See CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust (FXY) ETF year-to-date chart (as of Friday's close):

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)
PowerShares FTSE RAFI Japan Portfolio (PJO)
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)