Japanese Consumer Confidence Drops to 13-Month Low

Japanese consumer confidence today dropped to the lowest reading since December 2012, signaling perhaps (despite the nearly 100% price gain in the Nikkei over the last two years) not all is fixed in the land of the rising sun. To be fair, the weak consumer confidence reading goes against numerous other statistics showing a continued improvement including bank loans, construction, machinery orders, etc. But we suspect at least some of the improvement is due to demand being brought forward ahead of the April consumption tax increase. In any case, the strong relationship between the consumer confidence index and the Nikkei has our attention piqued.