Japan Rally Mutating With Abe Beneficiaries Becoming Biggest Losers

Japan’s stock market rally looks exactly the same as it did two years ago. And yet it’s entirely different.

Just like in 2013, shares keep going up, with the Topix index closing Thursday at a seven-year high. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe remains in power, and a weaker yen is boosting company profits. What’s changed: Drugmakers and paper mills are powering the advance in 2015. Brokerages, the biggest beneficiaries in Abe’s first year, are slumping.