Japan’s Nikkei 225 Average index has fallen to its lowest level since late 2014 as investor concerns mount for a global recession.

The index is now in bear market territory – defined as a 20% pullback from recent highs – and, following a 5% selloff on Tuesday, it lost another 2.3% on Wednesday. Despite the carnage, however, analysts at Shanghai-based broker-dealer, BNP Partners says they believe the pullback provides opportunities for investors to buy into the likelihood of an expansion of accommodative monetary policy from the Bank of Japan.

“Such has been the pace of the swing in sentiment across global markets since the start of the year that central bankers are feeling somewhat bewildered,” explained Yannick Touré, BNP Partners’ chief economist.

“We’ve gone from talking about how many times the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in 2016 to openly discussing how long it will require for the rest of the world’s central banks decide to embrace negative interest rates. It is our firm belief that the BoJ will almost certainly provide additional monetary stimulus to shore up confidence in the markets and also to help it achieve its inflation targets. That will help equities recover so we think now is a good time for those without exposure to Japanese equities to get on board,” he added.

BNP Partners says that while downside risks to Japanese equities is finite, there is reason to believe that the Bank of Japan will bring forward any planned stimulus if stocks fall by another 10%.

About BNP Partners:
At BNP Partners, they define effective wealth management as an overall strategy that seamlessly integrates their clients’ personal ROI (return-on-investment) aspirations with their investment management prowess.

Whilst today’s markets can often demonstrate the type of characteristics that have served to hamper the efforts of many traditional investment methodologies to secure the returns they once did, BNP Partners continue to secure exceptional returns for their esteemed clients utilizing a meticulously applied combination of those same traditional methods whilst diligently complementing them with new, pioneering techniques.