Japan Quant Panorama: Sentiment and earnings boost

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Japan Quant Panorama: Sentiment and earnings boost

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Japan Quant Panorama

Sentiment and earnings boost

Japan: Sentiment rebounds, earnings surge 11 May 2026

Japan equities bounced +7.5% in April as the Middle East ceasefire prompted a rally and Quant Strategy

cyclical rotation in all regions globally. Japan sector performance was led by Semis Japan

(+34.0%) and Tech Hardware (+18.6%), while Energy (-9.4%) and Media (-8.8%) fell the Nigel Tupper >>

most. The cyclical Japan Boosters outperformed the defensive Bunkers by +3.7% during Quant Strategist

the month and have outperformed by 42.7% in the last 12 months. Market breadth was Merrill+61 2 9226Lynch5735(Australia)

only 30% as a small proportion of large Tech stocks led performance. The median 2026 nigel.tupper@bofa.com

EPS growth forecasts in Japan surged to 19%, supporting equity market performance. Amar Vashi >>

Quant Strategist

Funds globally bought $9.8bn in Japan shares last month Merrillamar.vashi@bofa.comLynch (Australia)

Our “Global Positioning in Stocks” analysis indicates long-only funds globally bought Sumuhan Shanmugalingam >>

$9.8bn of Japan shares in March and have bought $29.2bn in the last 12 months. Long- QuantMerrill StrategistLynch (Australia)

only funds have bought the most in SoftBank Group, Kioxia, IBIDEN, Toyota, and Japan sumuhan.shanmugalingam@bofa.com

Post Bank, and sold the most of Advantest, Honda, Recruit, Toyota Indus, and Nidec.

Triple Momentum for the Most Important Stocks

Triple Momentum is most positive for Banks, Semis and Diversified Financials, and most

negative for Software, Staples, and Consumer Discretionary. Among Japan’s Most

Important Stocks, the combination of earnings, price, and news momentum is currently