Japanese stocks extended gains Friday, with the 225-issue Nikkei average reaching its highest in nearly 33 years, as optimism the United States will avoid default added to bullish sentiment that has fueled one of the world’s best rallies of 2023.
The Nikkei advanced 0.8% to 30,808.35, pushing the blue-chip gauge to levels unseen since August 1990. The Topix, which maintained a 33-year high set earlier this week, gained 0.2%, as electronics makers and service-sector firms provided the biggest boosts.
Both gauges completed their sixth-straight week of gains as strategists at Goldman Sachs Group to Macquarie Group say the case for a bull run is solid thanks to corporate governance reforms boosting valuations and loose monetary policy adding to tailwinds. Morgan Stanley forecast the Topix could eventually climb an additional 9% to reach 2,350, propelled by themes on return-on-equity improvement and a favorable yen.