The Nikkei 225 added 0.8% to 40,913.65, with buying of automakers’ shares and other export oriented stocks lifting the benchmark to an all-time high
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 soared Thursday to a record close of 40,913.65, leading markets in most of Asia higher.
Shares dropped in Chinese markets, while U.S. futures rose.
Investors globally are keen to see the Fed cut rates that it has been keeping at two-decade highs to slow growth and tame inflation, and hopes have been reviving that price pressures are easing enough to make that possible.
The Nikkei 225 added 0.8% to 40,913.65, with buying of automakers’ shares and other export oriented stocks lifting the benchmark to an all-time peak.
Toyota Motor Corp.’s shares climbed 2% and Honda Motor Co. jumped 3%. Nissan Motor Corp. soared 4.5% and shares in computer testing equipment maker Advantest Corp. added 2.1%.
The Nikkei 225’s all-time peak during intraday trading is 41,087.75, on March 22. Its previous record close was 40,888.43, also set on March 22.
Investors have piled into the Japanese market because of 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 up when they are repatriated to Japan.
Changes in regulations on investment accounts have also bolstered share purchases.
The Nikkei 225 index has added 22.4% so far this year. The index soared in the late 1980s during Japan’s bubble economy, when asset prices surged. But it collapsed when that financial bubble imploded in early 1990 after reaching its earlier record of 38,915.87.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng recovered from early losses, gaining 0.2% to 18,018.72, and the Shanghai Composite index declined 0.8% to 2,957.57.
Taiwan’s Taiex climbed 1.5% as chip maker and market heavyweight Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. added 2.7%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 soared 1.2% to 7,831.80, while the Kospi in Seoul gained 1.1% to 2,824.94.
Bangkok’s SET climbed 0.9%.
