Japanese stocks are off to a strong start today with the Nikkei 225 up by 1.1%. The climb has put the index back within striking distance of 50K and leaves it up 25.0% year-to-date, as one of the top global performers.
That's a nice gain for international traders given that the yen is flat year to date. The yen has also steadied itself lately, in part because of talk of a rate hike. The market is 66% priced or a hike this month and today's PMI highlighted upside inflation risks.
