Identification

• The Nikkei, or more completely the Nikkei 225, is a stock market index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The Nikkei began in September 1950, and has been published by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper since 1971. It is a price-weighted average of the stock values for selected companies, with the companies included reviewed every October.
  
  

Significance

• Representing the stock activity of the most important companies in Japan, the Nikkei is the single most monitored index in all of Asia. It is a common feature on virtually all sources of business news that cover international stock markets. The other major stock index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Topix, is rarely featured.
  
  

History

• The Nikkei reached its all-time high on December 29, 1989, when it hit 38,957.44 during trading, before closing at 38,915.87. Although it began indexing stock activity in 1950, its records extend back to May 16, 1949. The Nikkei expanded to introduce a Futures index.
  
  

Features

• Companies include in the Nikkei include Kikkoman, all the major Japanese automotive companies, Nikkon, Olympus, Yamaha, Bridgestone, Casio, Canon, Hitachi, Sanyo and Toshiba. Changes in the companies that comprise the Nikkei are always well publicized in Japanese news sources.
  
  

Misconceptions

• The Nikkei is an index of companies traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It is not a stock exchange itself. No market activity is conducted by "the Nikkei." It is merely a record of combined, daily performance. The Nikkei is not even operated by the Tokyo Stock Exchange; it is run by a major newspaper.