The Japanese stock-market index that lost about 80% from its 1989 peak to its 2009 low was the Nikkei 225.
The Nikkei 225 reached an intraday record of 38,957.44 on December 29, 1989. That peak came near the end of Japan’s asset-price bubble, when property and equities had risen dramatically. After the bubble burst, Japanese share prices entered a prolonged decline commonly associated with the country’s “Lost Decades.”
The index fell to an intraday low of 7,054.98 on March 10, 2009. Compared with the 1989 peak, that represented a decline of roughly 82 percent. The fall was linked to banking problems, deflation, weak growth, and the unwinding of excessive borrowing and asset valuations.
The Nikkei 225 is not the same as TOPIX, another important Japanese benchmark. The Nikkei is price-weighted and contains 225 companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime Market, while TOPIX is capitalization-weighted.