Billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway said it added to stakes in Japan's five biggest trading houses to beyond 8 per cent on Monday, a move likely to highlight and add to the momentum driving Japan's stock market to new heights.
Buffett's investments and his optimism about Japan's prospects have drawn attention to improving economic conditions and shareholder-friendly corporate governance reforms that have helped underpin a sparkling rally in the Nikkei share average. Berkshire said its ownership now averages more than 8.5 per cent at the companies and the aggregate value of the investments is the largest of any Berkshire-held public stocks outside the U.S.