Nikkei ends the year with its best annual performance in 10 ‎years

Japan’s Nikkei index ended the year with its best annual performance in ten years, supported by expectations of improved governance, although it declined during Friday’s session amid the absence of any major stimuli.

According to Reuters, the Nikkei Nikkei fell 0.22% today, Friday, to close at 33,464.17 points.

“Investors bought stocks that underperformed and sold stocks that outperformed in the past sessions because they did not detect any market-moving catalysts,” said Takehiko Masuzawa, head of trading at Philip Securities Japan.

While the Nikkei rose 28% for the year, recording the highest annual increase since 2013, the year in which Haruhiko Kuroda assumed the position of Governor of the Bank of Japan and began a comprehensive monetary easing policy to support the value of assets.

The Nikkei index also recorded the best performance in Asia, supported by the yen’s decline of seven percent against the dollar this year.

Market traders said that the yen’s five percent rise against the dollar this month prevented the Nikkei index from reaching a new record high.

Among the 225 stocks listed on the index, Cobb Steel achieved the best performance for the year after the stock increased by about 3 times and the steel companies sector became the best performing among the 33 sub-sectors on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Sumitomo Pharma Pharmaceutical Industries recorded the worst performance for the year, falling 53.3%. The pharmaceutical sector index declined 1.09%, being the only sector to decline among the sub-indices.

The broader Topix index rose 0.19% to close at 2,366.39 points today, Friday, supported by a 1.35% rise in Toyota Motor shares.

The index rose 25% during the year, which is also its best annual performance since 2013.