Japan’s Nikkei 225 surpasses its all-time high in intra-day trading

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 surpassed its all-time high during intra-day trading on Thursday.

The index briefly hit 38,924.88 in morning trading in Tokyo, topping its all-time closing high of 38,915.87 reached in December 1989.

Energy and technology shares were leading the way. Semiconductor manufacturer Screen Holdings soared 8.4%. It was the top performer among index constituents. Advantest, which supplies testing equipment for the chip industry, surged 4.7%.

US chipmaker Nvidia posted strong earnings on Wednesday, with its quarterly profits up 769% from a year ago. That drove a surge in Nvidia’s share price in aftermarket trading.

Japan’s equities market had an exceptional year in 2023, with the Nikkei index up 28%, making it the best performing market in Asia. So far this year, the index has jumped 17%.

The rally in Japan’s equities has been mainly driven by ongoing corporate reforms and improving return on equities, while the weak yen also helped boost profits of Japanese exporters, according to analysts from Eastspring Investments.

This is a developing story and will be updated.