Nikkei Index Continues to Rise for Consecutive Days... Up 0.8% to Set New All-Time High Again

Korea Economic Daily

Summary

It was reported that the Nikkei Index rose by 0.77%%, renewing its all-time high again.
While semiconductor, electrical machinery stocks, and banking shares declined, gains were observed in a range of sectors including retail and automobiles.
Investor buying momentum, stemming from favorable U.S. economic news and strong Japanese economic growth in Q2, is driving the rise in the Nikkei Index.

Japan's representative stock market index, the Nikkei 225 Average (hereafter Nikkei Index), broke its all-time high again on the 18th.

On this day, the Nikkei Index closed at 43,714, up 0.77% from the previous trading day. During the session, it climbed to as high as 43,835, nearing the 44,000 mark.

The upward trend today was not driven by stocks that had previously shown strength in the semiconductor and electrical machinery sectors. Tokyo Electron fell by 2.14% and Sony Group dropped by 2.54%, respectively.

Bank-related stocks, which experienced gains last week due to expectations of a Bank of Japan interest rate hike, mostly turned downward.

Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, “Gains were seen across a variety of sectors, including retail such as Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings and automobiles such as Suzuki.”

NHK explained that as optimism spread about the solid U.S. economy and Japan’s second-quarter economic growth rate exceeding market expectations, buying momentum continued among investors.

The Nikkei Index set new closing record highs three times last week.

Sae-Seong Oh, Hankyung.com reporter sesung@hankyung.com