It's been a bad year for the Japanese stock market. Without record purchases by the Bank of Japan, it could have been even worse.
The central bank spent ¥833 billion ($7.8 billion) on exchange-traded funds tracking the country's shares last month, the biggest amount logged in data stretching back to late 2010. In the first quarter, too, it bought more than ever before. As the market slumped in a global equity rout, deserted by foreign investors, with the benchmark Topix index sinking to its first back-to-back monthly declines since the start of 2016, the BOJ stepped in.
Haruhiko Kuroda's bank is now ahead of schedule in its goal of spending about ¥6 trillion a year on ETFs. It used almost a third of its annual budget in just the first quarter. The central bank has been largely consistent in its purchasing habits, tending to buy on days the Topix falls in the morning. But that's making some investors concerned about lessened firepower should the sell-off continue.