Nomura Holdings, Japan’s largest brokerage and investment bank, reported a doubling of net profit in the second quarter after a rebound in the domestic stock market led to a surge in equity offerings and retail brokerage commissions.

Nomura’s dominance in Japan, where the stock market is trading at a 33-year high, helped it offset sluggish deal-making and sluggish trading overseas.

The company posted a profit of 35.2 billion yen ($235 million) for the July-September period, up from last year when a sharp downturn in global financial markets hit its asset management and investment banking businesses.

Japanese companies have been increasingly willing to raise funds – both in the equity and debt markets – this year. Tighter governance rules and shareholder pressure are also forcing companies to look for strategic options.

As a result, Nomura’s investment banking business increased its net income by 19 per cent, driven by strong equity offerings and deals in Japan.

According to LSEG, Japan was the only major market in the world to see an increase in M&A this year, with the value of deals involving Japanese companies rising 14 per cent to $111 billion in the first nine months of 2023.

Profits at Nomura’s domestic retail unit rose fivefold thanks to the end of a prolonged period of deflation and growing interest from companies to deploy capital more efficiently, boosting investor appetite for Japanese equities.

The company also said it was reallocating more bank employees to wealth management to better serve wealthy families and entrepreneurs.

However, pre-tax profits at Nomura’s wholesale division, which includes investment banking and trading units, fell 59 per cent after a series of rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve made market participants reticent to be active in overseas fixed-income securities.