The Nikkei 225 Index jumped to a record high on Thursday, helped by the strong performance of Softbank, the giant telecommunication and investing powerhouse. It jumped to a high of ¥44,352, continuing an uptrend that started in April when it bottomed at ¥30,800.
Softbank helped to propel the Nikkei 225 Index
The ongoing Nikkei Index surge was mostly because of Softbank, whose stock jumped by 10% and reached its all-time high of ¥17,885. It has jumped by over 212% from its April lows.
Softbank has benefited from it investments in the artificial intelligence industry. In particular, the company is part of the Stargate project, which was unveiled earlier this year to invest in AI infrastructure in the US. The other partners of this project are Oracle and OpenAI.
Softbank stock jumped as it mirrored the performance of Oracle, whose shares jumped by over 30% after reporting a strong quarterly result.
The company’s backlog has jumped to $455 billion, while its cloud infrastructure will jump to $18 billion in 2026. $32 billion in 2027, and then hit $144 billion in 2030.
Many other companies have helped to supercharge the Nikkei 225 Index this year. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is up by 70%, while Fujikura has pumped by over 115%. Other top gainers in the index this year are firms like Shimizu, Mitsubishi Estate, Sumitomo Dainippon, Marubeni, Nippon Express, and Yokohama Rubber.
Global stock market rally as hopes of Fee cuts rise
The Nikkei 225 Index has jumped because of the ongoing surge in global equities. A good example of this is in the United States, where the top indices like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 have all soared to a record high.
Most of this surge is happening as investors remain optimistic that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in the coming meeting.
Odds of a rate cut have jumped in the past few weeks after the US published weak macro data. Consumer confidence has plummeted, while the labor market is in a recession. The economy created just 22,000 jobs in August, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.3%.
Federal Reserve interest rate cuts help to boost global stocks by making bonds unattractive. Indeed, the short-term bond yields have all plunged this month.
The Nikkei 225 Index has also soared after a US appeals court ruled that Donald Trump’s tariffs were illegal. Trump has appealed and is betting on the case moving to the Supreme Court. Still, there is hope that his tariffs will be ended, a move that will benefit Japanese companies.
Nikkei 225 Index technical analysis
The daily timeframe chart shows that the Nikkei Index has been in a strong bullish trend in the past few months. It has moved from a low of ¥30,813 in April to over ¥44,000.
The index has moved above the important resistance level at ¥40,597, its highest level in December last year. It has remained above the 50-day and 100-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMA).
Therefore, the stock will likely continue rising as bulls target the next important resistance point at ¥45,000 as it has invalidated the double-top point at ¥43,880.
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