Tokyo stocks ended trading Wednesday at a record-high close for the first time in three weeks, days after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced his resignation.
The Nikkei 225 stock index finished the day up 0.87%, at 43,837.67, with a strong performance in the afternoon.
It broke the previous record close of 43,714.31, reached on Aug. 18.
The benchmark broke 44,000 for the first time in history on Tuesday morning, reaching 44,185.73 and breaking the previous intraday record — of 43,876.42 — hit on Aug. 19.
The yen traded steady at around ¥147.5 to the dollar on Wednesday after strengthening Tuesday.
SoftBank Group rose 7.28% on Wednesday, Hitachi was up 3.6% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group gained 2.26%.
Tokyo stocks have rallied since the prime minister announced on Sunday that he will resign from the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, while U.S. stocks hit fresh records overnight.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by nearly 0.5% and hit a record at Tuesday’s closing, at 45,711.34. The S&P 500 was up 0.27%, also hitting a record high.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to cut rates soon. Its next policy meeting will be held on Sept. 16 and 17.
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