Even one of the most bearish strategists on Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average has now capitulated, making it hard to find someone on Wall Street who isn’t positive on the market heading into 2024.
The Nikkei will rise to 37,750 and the benchmark Topix to 2,650 by the end of next year, suggesting another 12% to 15% of upside for the country’s stocks, according to a median estimate of analysts. One notable bear, Citigroup's Ryota Sakagami, switched his view and now expects the Nikkei to reach 39,000.
Japan’s stock market is heading for a world-beating rally this year as the third-largest economy shows signs of decisively stamping out decades of deflation and luring back global investors with the endorsement of Warren Buffett. That’s brought money into Japan from China, and that trend isn’t likely to let up into 2024, according to Masanari Takada, a derivatives strategist at JPMorgan Securities Japan.