Nikkei 225
Japan's headline equity benchmark — the Asia story every interviewer expects you to have.
Previous close ¥68,402.13
52-week high
¥67,470.69
52-week low
¥43,960.08
YTD change
+15.72%
Historical series derived from EWJ ETF and scaled to today's index level — shape is accurate, absolute levels are approximate (±small tracking error).Up over the period.
The 30-second take
Nikkei 225 is heavily exporter-weighted (Toyota, Sony, Keyence) so it trades inversely to the yen — a weaker JPY boosts the Nikkei via foreign-earnings translation, similar to the FTSE/GBP relationship. The BoJ's 2024 exit from negative rates marked a regime change; Japan's now a real interest-rate story, not just a carry-trade destination. Anchor your answer to the yen and BoJ policy.
Historical reference points
Bankers instinctively contextualise today's level against these moments. Each row shows how far the current level is above / below that reference.
- 1989 bubble peakDec 1989¥38,957.00+73.19%
- Post-bubble lowMar 2009¥7,054.00+856.49%
- Abenomics peakOct 2018¥24,448.00+175.98%
- BoJ exit peakMar 2024¥41,087.00+64.21%
Compare against
Master the whole framework
The live numbers are one leg. Read the lesson for the four things to always know, plus the full interview script.
Discussing Markets — read the lesson →