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The main stock exchange index from Tokyo in Japan. The Nikkei is an average of the 225 largest companies trading on the Tokyo stock exchange - weighted for their market capitalisations in yen. It has been in existence since 1950 and is published by the Nihon Keizai Shinbun newspaper. The Japanese economy is now the third largest economy in the world (after America and China), but it is a very large and important economy. The Tokyo stock exchange (TSE) has some of the largest companies in the world listed there. After its peak at 38712 on 5th January 1990, it began a long downward trend - caused mainly by the fact that the Japanese yen became so strong that it made it increasingly difficult for Japanese companies to operate profitably. Japan as a country has very few natural resources and so its industry has become successful by importing raw materials and then exporting manufactured goods to the rest of the world - especially America. The stronger yen made their exports more expensive on foreign markets. It reached a bottom at 7268 on 24th February 2009. Since then the index has been rising consistently indicating the steadily improving profits of Japanese companies, most of which are now multinational. On 24th November 2023 it stood at 32696. Consider the index going back to July 1988:
<img src="http://www.pdsnet.co.za/onlinecourse/images/Nikkei_glossNov23.png" />
<figure class="container-fluid">
<figcaption style="text-align: center;">Nikkei Index: July 1988 - November 2023. Chart by ShareFriend Pro. </figcaption>
</figure>

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