Having climbed relentlessly since March amid a surge of pandemic-era interest from retail investors, Japan’s startup index has finally reached its highest closing level since 2006.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers Index, made up of some 322 startups and smaller firms, has risen more than 50% this year, even as the benchmark Topix and the blue-chip Nikkei 225 index have struggled to regain their year-to-date losses.
As of Wednesday, that rally has finally taken the index past a 2018 peak to a high not seen since August 2006. With the gauge the second-best-performing equity index in the Asia-Pacific region after the ChiNext Index this year, that’s got some suggesting investors should pay Mothers more respect.