October saw Japanese investors become less upbeat about the market outlook.

A monthly survey of 1,000 investors by Japanese financial group Nomura during early October has shown a fall in confidence and willingness to invest abroad.

The Nomura I-View Index fell by 1.2 points from September to 48.8. The index is based on respondents' three-month outlook for share prices and calculated by subtracting the percentage of responses for "fall" from that for "rise". The Nikkei Average reference level at the time of the survey (5 October 2015 close) was 18,005.49, up 145.02 from the previous survey (7 September close of 17,860.47), and the number of survey respondents expecting share prices to rise declined. 

Investor interest in international affairs dwindled, the survey found. Respondents were asked to select the factor most likely to impact the stock market in the next three months; international affairs topped the list again, but its response rate fell 5.5 percentage points.

Meanwhile, the response rates for domestic politics, domestic corporate earnings, forex trends, and domestic interest rates all rose from the previous month. 

The survey found that investors are keenest on the pharmaceuticals sector. 

There was also a rise in the percentage of respondents expecting modest change in the dollar/yen exchange rate. On the outlook for this rate over the next three months, the response rate for “fall of about ¥5 against the dollar" rose 1.6 percentage points to 44.1 per cent, and the response rate for "rise of about ¥5 against the dollar" was 38.5 per cent, up 4.5 percentage point.

Among financial instruments, Japanese investment trusts attracted greater interest, while cash and deposits became less appealing. Japanese equities remained the most appealing financial instrument in October, although not by as sharp a margin as in September.

The poll was conducted among Japanese individual investors.