Japan’s Nikkei index is at its highest level in 6 and a half months

Japan’s Nikkei index hit a six-and-a-half-month high on Thursday, extending its winning streak for the fifth consecutive session, with risk appetite improving on expectations that the Federal Reserve will slow down its monetary tightening policies and the lack of imminent changes in the Bank of Japan’s monetary stimulus policy.

The rise in technology stocks in the US market at the end of the previous session’s trading led to the rise of their Japanese counterparts, while the yen’s decline to its lowest level in several months provided broader support for the index, even with the Japanese currency making up for some of its losses in the current session.

Real estate stocks and financial stocks, which usually move in opposite directions based on changes in bond yields, recorded gains as investors preferred stocks that yield high dividends before the end of the Japanese fiscal year this month.

The Nikkei index ended Thursday up 0.63 percent at 28,623.15 points. Earlier in the session, the index rose to 28,734.79 points, the highest level since August 26, 2022.

The Topix index rose 0.97% to 2,071.09 points, a slight difference from the day’s high of 2,071.60 points, the strongest performance since September 2021.

On the second day of congressional testimony, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday reaffirmed his message on Tuesday about raising interest rates at a potentially faster pace, but stressed that the monetary policy decision expected later this month remains contingent on economic data.