US, Japan equity markets remains strong in 1Q2024
1Q2024 Short Review:
The Japan and US equity markets outperformed other bourses in the first quarter of this year. The Nikkei 255 remains close to its all-time high. A weak yen usually boosts the index.
Despite Japan hiking interest rates, the Nikkei continues to make new highs, primarily because investors are betting that Japanese rates will not rise quickly, leading to a decline in the yen, which in turn benefits Japanese exporters.
During my webinar on January 25th, I mentioned my year-end target for the S&P 500 was 5,250. Since then, the S&P 500 has risen nearly 8% and hit the said target price.
My best-case scenario remains 5,750 for the S&P 500, representing a 20.5% upside potential relative to the 2023 year-end price.
For the next few quarters, I believe investors should primarily focus on US stocks, particularly in the technology-related sector, as the AI story still has legs.
US investors could consider $SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust(SPY)$ and $Invesco QQQ Trust-ETF(QQQ)$ ETFs to gain US equity exposure.
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