Nikkei Takes a Breather as Record Highs Loom

The main Japanese stock index was unable to continue its upward trend on Tuesday, remaining below the all-time peak it reached over three decades ago by one percent, amid concerns of investors ahead of Nvidia’s earnings release.

A larger-than-expected interest rate cut in China gave Japanese stocks a boost in the morning session, but it proved to be short-term, and the Nikkei index closed down 0.28 percent at 38363.61.

The Nikkei index is on the brink of breaking its all-time high at 38957.44, which it reached on the final trading day of 1989 during Japan’s economic bubble peak. On Friday, the main index rose to 38865.06 before falling by the closing bell.

Japanese chip industry giants have been the driving force behind the Nikkei’s nearly 15 percent increase this year, easily outperforming its main counterparts including the S&P 500 and Nasdaq technology-focused indexes, which have each gained around five percent.

Nvidia is expected to announce its financial results tomorrow on Wednesday.