Japan’s Nikkei 225 reached a record closing level of 38,915.87 on December 29, 1989, before the 1990s market crash.
The peak came at the height of Japan’s late-1980s asset-price bubble. Japanese property and shares had risen dramatically, supported by easy credit, strong corporate profits, and optimistic expectations. Land prices in major cities became extraordinarily high, while the Tokyo Stock Exchange was the world’s largest by market capitalization for a period.
The Bank of Japan tightened monetary policy beginning in 1989, and the bubble began to deflate. Stock prices fell, property values weakened, and banks were left with large quantities of troubled loans. The Nikkei’s decline became a symbol of Japan’s “lost decade,” although the country’s economic stagnation and banking problems extended well beyond the index’s initial fall.
The peak is a closing value, not the highest intraday level. That distinction matters because stock indexes can briefly trade above a record close before finishing below it.