The Nikkei 225 closed at 38,915.87 on December 29, 1989, its record peak before Japan’s early-1990s stock-market crash.
The index’s extraordinary rise reflected Japan’s late-1980s asset-price bubble. Easy credit, strong optimism, and rapidly rising land and share prices encouraged speculation. When monetary policy tightened and asset prices turned downward, Japanese equities entered a prolonged decline.
The Nikkei’s closing record is sometimes confused with its intraday record. The index reached an intraday high of 38,957.44 on the same date, but the official closing value was 38,915.87. Keeping those two figures separate is important when comparing market records.
Japan’s market decline was closely connected to the broader bursting of its asset bubble, but the Nikkei did not simply fall in one continuous crash day. It endured a lengthy bear market, and its 1989 closing record remained unbroken for decades.