2023 Was A Great Year For Japanese Stocks

On Friday 29 December, the Tokyo stock market finished 2023 trading with Nikkei at 33,464, up 28.2% from 2022’s close.

Most investors expect the bull market to continue in 2024, possibly even surpassing Nikkei’s all-time high of 38,916 in late 1989 at the height of the asset price bubble.

2023’s gain was the highest since 2013 when the Bank of Japan engaged in very aggressive quantitative easing.

Although the stock market rise is generally seen as positive news, it has happened against a backdrop of historic weakness of the Japanese yen, which was the worst-performing currency among the world’s 10 richest countries in 2023, as it was in 2022 and 2021.

In 2024, investors will be closely watching the Bank of Japan, amid speculation that it will normalize its monetary policy by raising interest rates.

Also up was Japan’s TOPIX index, ending the year at 2,366.

Sources:
NHK – 30 December 2023
The Japan Times – 30 December 2023
Nikkei Asia – 30 December 2023

Image:
David Kernan (image has been slightly cropped)

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