Japan’s Nikkei hits all-time high, breaks 1989 bubble-era record

Japan’s Nikkei 225 on Thursday finally broke through a record high set just before the country’s asset bubble catastrophically burst in the early 1990s. The index of blue-chip stocks hit a peak of 39,156.97, beating the record of 38,957.44 set in December 29, 1989, before easing to 39,098.68 points at the end of trading, its highest closing level. By doing so the Nikkei finally broke through the levels seen during the boom years of 1985-1989 when it quadrupled in value and Japanese assets soared. Tokyo property prices at the time were hundreds of times more than in Manhattan, golf club memberships would cost millions of dollars, and bankers would sprinkle gold dust into their drinks.