Japan stock volatile as sales tax looms

TOKYO: Japan's switch to aggressive reflationary policies got off to a good start, but long-term investors remain wary of the Nikkei share market's acute volatility and are hesitant to commit as a debate within the government over hiking the sales tax heats up.

The Nikkei's gain since the start of the year was trimmed to under 30%, from 50% in May, and investors such as pension funds have yet to be convinced whether they should buy into Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's strategy for breaking Japan's long cycle of deflation.