Japan’s Benchmark Briefly Reaches All-Time High

Japan’s Nikkei 225 share index surged briefly to an all-time high on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, bypassing its previous record set in December 1989, Elaine Kurtenbach reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Japanese shares have logged sharp gains in recent months, helped by strong interest from foreign investors who account for the majority of trading volume on the Tokyo exchange. I Photo: Dick Thomas Johnson Flickr

By midday Thursday, the index was up 1.6% at 38,861.98 after earlier trading as high as 38,924.88. The Nikkei 225’s previous record was 38,915.87, just before Japan’s bubble economy collapsed in the early 1990s.

Japanese shares have logged sharp gains in recent months, helped by strong interest from foreign investors who account for the majority of trading volume on the Tokyo exchange.

Elsewhere in Asia, shares were mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.3% to 16,452.34, and the Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% higher, to 2,952.76. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.1% at 7,598.00, while the Kospi in Seoul added 0.2% to 2,659.21. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% to 4,981.80.

The benchmark index spent much of the day in losing territory before climbing higher just before markets closed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average also eked out a slight gain after losing ground most of the day. It rose 0.1%, to 38,612.24. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%, to 15,580.87, Damian J. Troise also reported for AP.

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