Japan’s Nikkei 225 reached 38,957.44 before the country’s early-1990s market crash.
The index hit that record intraday level on December 29, 1989, near the end of Japan’s asset-price bubble. Japanese property and share prices had risen dramatically during the 1980s, supported by easy credit, optimistic expectations, and intense investment activity.
After the peak, the Nikkei fell as the Bank of Japan tightened policy and the bubble deflated. The resulting financial and economic stagnation became associated with Japan’s “Lost Decades.” Banks were left with impaired loans, while falling land and equity values weakened borrowers and financial institutions.
The number is sometimes confused with the day’s closing level. The Nikkei’s December 29, 1989, record is commonly quoted as an intraday high, while the closing high was lower. The index did not permanently regain that record during the following decades.