from Hacker News

Japan's Nikkei surpasses 1989 all-time high

by qclibre22 on 2/22/24, 2:06 AM with 218 comments

• by rayiner on 2/22/24, 2:52 AM

  > The rally has also been supported by a weaker yen, which has shed about 6% against the dollar so far this year and seems on track to drop to to 33-year lows touched late last year.

  We just got back from Tokyo and the prices for everything were crazy low. Ordered a bunch of sushi at a mall sushi place in Kyoto for what it would cost for Chipotle in DC. It was a huge shock when we flew back through SF and paid $13 each for a taco truck burrito in Millbrae.

  The Japanese folks I’ve spoken to are pretty grumbly about the weak yen, though.

• by SCAQTony on 2/22/24, 3:16 AM

  Their economy is still not doing well. The sole reason that the NIKKEI is storming it is that banks only offer negative interest rates on bank deposits. Thus, the NIKKEI is the only real option left.

  https://www.focus-economics.com/country-indicator/japan/inte....

• by minebreaker on 2/22/24, 3:33 AM

  Meanwhile the real wages are dropping like a waterfall and the cheap yen is hurting our lives disastrously.

  https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15151006

• by MichaelRo on 2/22/24, 4:57 AM

  Japanese man in his 70s: "Yippee Yay! It only took 34 years to get back what I invested in the index, because indexes always go up. And now everything costs double".

• by niemandhier on 2/22/24, 7:19 AM

  The crisis in Europe, the unpredictability of American politics, and the mounting tensions with China make Japan a attractive alternative for investing right now.

  Japan has been in an economic stasis for decades, some believe this to be triggered by the 1985 Plaza Accords which devalued the Dollar against the Mark and the Yen.

  Germany recovered from that shock by absorbing East Germany and pushing EU integration. Japan did not have this options, but the new multipolar world order might give them an opportunity.

  This will probably be to the detriment of Germany and the US, which both probably would like to increase the value of the yen.

  But given that the American are not perceived as a reliable partner right now, I do not see something like the Plaza Cords coming again any time soon.

  Plaza Accords: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaza_Accord

  Impact on Yen and Mark: https://www.macrotrends.net/2550/dollar-yen-exchange-rate-hi... https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/312004/umfrag...

• by bobthepanda on 2/22/24, 3:11 AM

  In 2021 the Bank of Japan had become the largest shareholder in the Nikkei. Is that still true? https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-06/boj-becom...

• by yyy888sss on 2/22/24, 3:10 AM

  Price of gold in 1989: ~2000 yen/g

  Price of gold in 2024: 9,800 yen/g

• by alephnan on 2/22/24, 5:23 AM

  Meanwhile, Japan entered recession last week.

• by deadbabe on 2/22/24, 2:57 AM

  Finally people can stop pointing to the Japanese stock market as an example of a crash that never recovered.

• by mlcrypto on 2/22/24, 4:39 AM

  Hmm maybe the bull market is just beginning around the world

• by nothercastle on 2/22/24, 10:14 PM

  They finally got the inflation they wanted for 30 years

• by patrick451 on 2/22/24, 6:54 AM

  And this is why investing I don't invest in index funds.