Tokyo reopens: Nikkei, Topix shed 5%

So much for enjoying the latter part of the three-day weekend in Japan. The spectacular “Bloody Sunday” was followed by sell-off Monday in the global markets that were open, which in turn set up Japanese stocks for a heavy drop upon reopening Tuesday. The Nikkei 225 hit a 3-year-plus intra-day low of 11,551, going back to the Koizumi era, prior to his historic snap election securing support for Postal privatization. It’s hard to envision any kind of rebound at present. Maybe next week if the empty PM seat situation is resolved.

Meantime, the BoJ issues its rate policy decision Wednesday, but a change is unlikely and thus, as has long been the case, the focus will be on Gov. Shirakawa’s commentary. The yen meanwhile, has appreciated some against the dollar, last around $1/Y104, although still no indication of a revisit to < 100. In a hunt for some good news, how about equity dividend yields? The Nikkei 225 has a forward yield of 1.9% and Topix-1 is above 2.0%, compared to the benchmark 10-year JGB yielding just under 1.5%. Stocks go ex-dividend (for interim dividend) next Thursday. In the expectation of further selling, I’ll hold off another day or two before listing some of the highest yielding stocks that have ADRs listed with the NYSE/Nasdaq.