Nikkei
Japan's benchmark 225-stock index: a global barometer of Asian economic risk.
Last refreshed: 30 March 2026
Why does a strait 6,000 miles away move Japan's markets faster than almost anywhere else?
Latest on Nikkei
- What is the Nikkei 225?
- The Nikkei 225 is Japan's benchmark stock market index, tracking 225 large-cap companies on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It is price-weighted, like the Dow Jones, and is the primary measure of Japanese equity market health.Source: Nikkei Inc.
- Why did the Nikkei fall 7% in March 2026?
- The Nikkei 225 fell 7.05% on 14 March 2026, dropping below 52,000, as Strait of Hormuz closure fears pushed oil above $80 a barrel. Japan imports ~90% of its crude oil, making it acutely vulnerable to Middle East supply disruptions.Source: Lowdown
- How does the Iran conflict affect the Nikkei?
- The Nikkei is highly sensitive to Gulf oil disruptions because Japan relies on imported crude for ~90% of its energy needs. The Iran conflict caused the Nikkei to fall 2% on first news of the conflict and 7.05% when Hormuz closure fears intensified in March 2026.Source: Lowdown
- How does the Nikkei compare to the Dow Jones?
- Both the Nikkei 225 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average are price-weighted indices tracking a fixed basket of large-cap companies. The Nikkei covers Japanese equities; the Dow covers US equities. They often move in tandem on global macro shocks, as seen when Dow futures fell 300 points alongside the Nikkei's initial 2% Iran-conflict drop.Source: Lowdown
- Why is the Nikkei so sensitive to oil prices?
- Japan has almost no domestic oil production and imports roughly 90% of its crude. Oil price spikes directly raise input costs for the Nikkei's largest components — automotive and electronics manufacturers — compressing margins and driving selling pressure on the index.Source: Lowdown
Background
Launched in 1950 and retroactively calculated to 1949, the Nikkei 225 is a price-weighted index of 225 large-cap companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, operated by Nikkei Inc. It spans automotive, electronics, and financial sectors and is the primary benchmark for Japanese equity markets, tracked alongside the Hang Seng and KOSPI as a gauge of Asian regional sentiment.
The Nikkei 225 fell 7.05% on 14 March 2026, dropping below 52,000 for the first time since January, as Strait of Hormuz closure fears drove oil above $80 a barrel. SoftBank fell 11% in the same session. The index had already shed 2% when the Iran conflict first broke in late February.
Japan imports roughly 90% of its crude oil, making the Nikkei structurally exposed to any disruption in Gulf supply routes. OPEC+'s 220,000-barrel-per-day increase in March 2026 was judged insufficient to offset Hormuz closure risk, and JP Morgan raised its recession probability to 35%, a reading that amplified selling pressure on Japanese industrials.
