Financial Times (February 22)
“The benchmark Nikkei 225 index finally broke through its “iron coffin lid” to surpass its long-standing record 1989 closing price of 38,915 points, which was set when 15 of the world’s largest companies by market cap were Japanese. “The Nikkei has risen 16.6 per cent since the start of the year, making it the world’s best-performing major index, as a falling yen lures foreign investors” and strengthens the performance of exporters.”
Tags: 1989, 38, 915 points, Benchmark, Best-performing, Falling yen, Foreign investors, Index, Japan, Market-cap, Nikkei 225, Performance, Record, Surpass
Bloomberg (January 4)
“For the first year since 1989, foreigners sold Japanese stocks and missed a rally.” The TOPIX index gained 8.9% in dollars and 21% in euros, but overseas investors missed out on some gains by offloading more than 250 billion yen in Japanese shares last year. “The Topix capped a 9.9 percent gain in local-currency terms last year, its fourth straight annual increase. Combined with the yen’s resilience, that meant that the Topix outperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in dollars for the first time since 2008” and its “gain in euros was triple that of the Stoxx Europe 600 Index.”
Tags: 1989, Dollars, Euros, Foreigners, Gains, Increase, Japan, Offloading, Rally, S&P 500, Stocks, Stoxx Europe 600, Topix, Yen
