JAPAN WEEKLY KICKSTART: 2026 AGM approval rating review; Bimonthly flow update

Research evidence excerpt

JAPAN WEEKLY KICKSTART: 2026 AGM approval rating review; Bimonthly flow update

Portfolio Strategy Research

3 July 2026 | 6:49PM JST

JAPAN WEEKLY KICKSTART

2026 AGM approval rating review; Bimonthly flow update

Summary of the week Bruce Kirk, CFA +81(3)4587-9950 | bruce.kirk@gs.com

TOPIX: 4,064.60 (2.6%) / NK225: 69,744.07 (0.6%) Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd.

Julius Chan

n Top sectors: Metal Products, Insurance +81(3)4587-1789 | julius.chan@gs.com Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd.

n Bottom sectors: Non-Ferrous Metals, Mining

In this week’s Japan Weekly Kickstart, we focus on 2Q CY2026 performance trends.

TOPIX gained +14% qoq, while Nikkei gained +37% qoq (its best ever quarterly

performance). The top three best-performing TOPIX 17 sectors in 2Q were three of

our five sector OWs: Electric Appliance & Precision (+48% qoq), Steel and

Non-Ferrous Metals (+26% qoq), and Banks (+23% qoq). The worst-performing

sectors in 2Q were Energy (-23% qoq), Commercial & Wholesale Trade (-11% qoq)

and Electric Power & Gas (-10% qoq). The AI and BOJ normalization themes

continued to lead the market higher in 2Q. In contrast, resource-related themes

pulled back after strong performance in March driven by geopolitical concerns

focused on the Middle East. On a year-to-date basis, both TOPIX (+19% ytd) and

Nikkei (+38% ytd) are outperforming the S&P 500 (+9% ytd), which in turn continues

to have a positive impact on the net foreign flows (see below).

n 2026 AGM update: Of the 319 liquid companies (6M ADTV > US$20m) that have

published their AGM results so far, the median CEO approval rating is 94%, and

the mean has been 92%. Whilst the ratings have not been meaningfully worse

versus the previous two years, the disparity between companies have widened,