THE power of the Japanese stock market - which has risen 24 per cent this year - has been attributed by some to artificial stimuli. Once removed, it was argued, the true nature of the recession would be reflected in rapid back-tracking by the Nikkei 225.
Now it looks as if the Japanese Government can stop turning the starting handle - the motor may be running.
The 13.2 trillion yen (about HK$951 billion) injected into the economy in April, which was not expected to show any returns until at least the middle of the summer, may prove to have been the last boost that the economy required.
The leading index of economic indicators has now been revised upwards for January and February, and while the March figure, released yesterday, indicated that the economy was still bouncing along the bottom, that, too, may be revised upwards.
The size of the revisions to the preliminary figures is beginning to look significant.
The February result was the most encouraging since June 1990, and if the March out-turn requires upwards revision, then it will be strong evidence that the worst is over in Japan.