Goldman’s Womenomics Stocks Languish in Inflation-Wary Japan
- Basket tied to rising female employment underperforming market
- Gauge hit all-time relative low in June amid economic worries
A pedestrian crosses a street in Tokyo.
Photographer: Noriko Hayashi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
More than two decades on after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. first championed “Womenomics” in Japan, a basket of shares focusing on the trend is languishing, having hit an all-time relative low in the stock market last month.
The gauge of companies most exposed to rising female employment and consumption has slumped just over 24% from its high last September, compared to a near 10% decline in the benchmark Topix Index over the same period. A heavy weighting in consumer stocks has dragged the basket lower as Japan is buffeted by fears about the reawakening of inflation in the price-sensitive nation and concerns about a slowdown in growth.