Nikkei-225 hits record high

Tokyo: Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark closed Thursday at a fresh record high of 40,913.65, pushing past its most recent record close set in March. The index gained 0.8 per cent, buoyed by heavy buying of technology and export-oriented shares. The index’s all-time high during intraday trading is 41,087.75, set on March 22. Its previous record close was 40,888.43, also set on March 22.

The gains tracked an overnight rally on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq also hit fresh records. Investors have piled into the Japanese market partly due to the cheapness of the Japanese yen, which is trading at 34-year lows against the dollar. A weak yen tends to push the profits of exporters higher when they are repatriated to Japan.

The Nikkei 225 index has gained 22.4 per cent so far this year. The index surged in the late 1980s during Japan’s bubble economy, when asset prices soared. But it collapsed when that financial bubble imploded in early 1990 after hitting its earlier record of 38,915.87. Toyota Motor Corp.’s shares jumped 2 per cent and Honda Motor Co. climbed 3 per cent. Nissan Motor Corp. rallied 4.5 per cent and shares in computer testing equipment maker Advantest Corp. gained 2.1 per cent.