Nikkei

The Nikkei 225 is a price-weighted index of 225 large-cap companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, operated by Nikkei Inc. It was launched in 1950 and retroactively calculated to 1949, spanning automotive, electronics, financial, and industrial sectors. As a price-weighted benchmark, like the Dow Jones, it gives higher-priced constituent stocks greater index influence. Alongside the KOSPI and Hang Seng, the Nikkei is one of Asia's primary gauges of regional economic sentiment and is closely tracked by global institutional investors.

Japan imports roughly 90% of its crude oil, making the Nikkei structurally exposed to any disruption in Gulf supply routes. When the Iran-Israel-US conflict broke out in late February 2026, the index fell 2% on day one as Brent surged to $82 a barrel. On 14 March 2026, as Hormuz closure fears intensified, it dropped a further 7.05% in a single session, falling below 52,000 for the first time since January; SoftBank fell 11% in the same move. OPEC+'s 220,000-barrel-per-day output increase was judged insufficient by Tokyo markets to offset the closure risk.

Nikkei Inc. also owns the Financial Times, acquired from Pearson in 2015 for £844 million, giving the company unusual dual identity as both a financial data provider and one of the world's most influential English-language news organisations. The index itself remains the primary lens through which international investors read Japanese and North Asian economic health.