New issuance of corporate bonds has recently been steady except for industries related to electric power, which have faced difficulties with new issuance due to uncertainty concerning their business environment. Japan’s situation is quite different from that in the United States and Europe where credit spreads have widened remarkably and new issuance has decreased sharply since summer.
Although comprehensive monetary easing was introduced last fall, stock prices and J-REITs have not risen, partly due to a deterioration in the external environment. However, some market participants have observed that the Bank’s purchases of ETFs and J-REITs helped markets to support some confidence right after the earthquake and also during the period of high uncertainty since this summer.