The preliminary GDP figures for the latest quarter, released Aug. 12, show that Japan's economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.3 percent in the April-June period. The economy is on a continuing uptrend, with GDP having expanded six quarters in a row since the January-March period of last year.
On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei average, which was recently wallowing below 9,000, has rallied above 10,000, while the yield on the Japanese government bond has shot up from its recent bottom of around 0.4 percent into the 1.4 percent range. Share prices are also recovering in most of the major markets throughout Asia, Europe and the United States.
For example, the Topix index is now 3.64 percent higher than a year ago, the Dow Jones Industrial Average in New York 9.72 percent higher, the SX5P index of European stocks 3.65 percent lower, and AS51 index of Asian stocks 3.89 percent higher. Although European stocks are still lower than they were a year ago, they've been on an uptrend since setting a low for the year in March.