What Is the Nikkei 225 Index and How Can You Trade It? IG International

The Nikkei 225 index offers traders and investors an avenue to get exposure to the entire Japanese economy in a single position. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average is Japan’s primary stock index and a barometer of the Japanese economy. It gauges the behavior of top Japanese companies, covering a broad swath of industries. Broadly considered Japan’s equivalent to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, it includes the top 225 blue-chip companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange re-opened on May 16, 1949, under the aegis of the Securities Exchange Act.

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The historical performance of the Japanese stock exchange and thus, the Nikkei 225 index, is potentially one of the most interesting talking points with respect to major indexes. For those unaware, in the mid-to-late 1980s, the Japanese economy experienced one of the biggest financial bubbles that the world has ever seen. You can trade this on the spot price, which is closest to the underlying price with low spreads, but includes overnight fees.

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As such, you would instead by best utilizing either an index fund or exchange traded fund (ETF). First and foremost, tracking the performance of more than 3,500 companies would be a logistical nightmare, especially when one considers the amount of trading that occurs on a daily basis. However, and perhaps more importantly, the vast majority of the Japanese stock marketplace is dominate by the companies sat at the very top of the market capitalization rankings. Launched back in 1950, the Tokyo Stock Exchange is the largest stock exchange in Japan, and the fourth largest in the world by market capitalization.

Therefore, any accounts claiming to represent IG International on Line are unauthorized and should be considered as fake. Please ensure you understand how this product works and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing money. If you seek broad exposure to the Japanese stock market through investments whose underlying assets track the Nikkei 225, ETFs may be the way to go. One option is the MAXIS Nikkei 225 Index ETF, which offers exposure to the Japanese stock market with a U.S.-listed, dollar-denominated exchange-traded fund.

The shares included in it are weighted according to price; the index level represents the average of the shares included in it. Dividend payments and stock market turnover are not considered when calculating the index. Nikkei Inc. has developed and calculated its own indexes from various perspective, looking at changes in society and markets. Therefore, and as the name suggests, the Nikkei 225 includes 225 of Japan’s biggest companies. In order to determine what companies to list, the Nikkei will typically select its constituents by the size of their market capitalization.

Investing in the Nikkei 225 via an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)

While the above figures do make nervous reading, it is important to remember that investing is all about timing. Before the economic downturn came to fruition,  in 1989 the Nikkei peaked at 38,916 points. The scary thing is that almost 30 years later, the Nikkei 225 has still not got anywhere close to the all-time highs it experienced in 1989. If you thought the bubbles of the Dot.com boom of the late 1990s or forex & cfd trading on stocks indices oil gold by xm the housing market crash of 2008 were bad, nothing gets close to what Japan experienced.

1. Like mutual funds, ETFs offer diversification through a single investment.
2. Most ETFs tracking the Nikkei are denominated in Japanese yen, including the Daiwa Asset Management ETF and the iShares Core Nikkei 225 ETF.
3. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument.
4. One of the leading index funds in this respect is the Daiwa Japan Nikkei 225 Index Fund.
5. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

You should familiarise yourself with these risks before trading on margin. Options and futures are complex instruments which come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Before you invest, you should consider whether you understand how options and futures work, the risks of trading these instruments and whether you can afford to lose more than your original investment. The Nikkei Stock Average, the Nikkei 225 is used around the globe as the premier index of Japanese stocks.

Although the expense ratio is slightly higher at 0.22%, this still provides good value if you prefer the ETF route. The ETF itself operates on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meaning that you have the option of trading it on the open marketplace at your will. When you purchase an ETF, the process works in a very similar way to that of a conventional equity. The reason for this is that the market value of the Nikkei 225 ETF will rise and fall throughout the day. Moreover, you can then sell your ETF on the open marketplace, just like you would with a company stock. However, this doesn’t necessarily make the Nikkei 225 index an unworthy investment.

ETFs are financial instruments that have the capacity to track virtually any asset class. Whether its oil, interest rates, Gold or foreign currency, you’ll find ETFs on the vast majority of major exchanges. Diversification can come in the form of Nikkei-linked ETFs or individual Nikkei shares, which you can also trade on. You’ll also trade the Nikkei 225 directly with us via our Japan 225 offering. Our offering tracks the Nikkei index, enabling you to make a prediction on the direction of the market price.

The Nikkei is Action airbus equivalent to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) Index in the United States. One of the most popular ways to invest in the performance of the Nikkei 225 is to utilize the services of an index fund. Index funds are offered by major institutions, meaning that you are investing your funds with the institution themselves, rather than the actual Nikkei 225. Outside of conventional equities, the Tokyo Stock Exchange also lists a number of other financial securities.

Sectors represented in the index include technology, financials, consumer goods, materials, capital goods, transportation, and utilities. In all, the Nikkei index comprises companies from 36 different industries. The Tokyo Price Index—frequently referred to as TOPIX—is What affects oil prices another widely followed index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. While the Nikkei is an index of 225 selected stocks from the TSE, the TOPIX is an index that includes all the stocks in the TSE. The index has been calculated since September 1950, retroactive to May 1949.

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Trading enables you to take a position on the Japan 225’s price rise or fall, without taking outright ownership of the underlying asset. As the main index traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (JPX), the Nikkei 225’s performance is representative of what’s happening in the Japanese economy. Due to the size of the Japanese economy and its position on the continent, the Nikkei 225 index can be a useful indicator of market sentiments in the region of East Asia.

At the height of the bubble, the TSE accounted for 60% of global stock market capitalization. Much like in the case of other major stock exchanges, the Tokyo Stock Exchange bridges the gap between corporations and investors. Through the use of real-time electronic tracking, the exchange details the current trading prices available on each of the companies it lists. Buying and managing each individual stock in the Nikkei 225 is costly and impractical, with substantial tax implications. Individual investors can gain exposure through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) whose underlying assets correlate to the Nikkei 225. You would essentially need to purchase 225 individual stocks, which would not only be expensive, but highly complicated.

In addition to monitoring the performance of the Nikkei 225, you must consider exchange rate fluctuations between the yen and the dollar. Spread bet and trade CFDs with IG to take advantage of both rising and falling prices. Alternatively, buy and sell shares and ETFs with our investment offering. The Nikkei is short for Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average, the leading and most-respected index of Japanese stocks. It is a price-weighted index composed of Japan’s top 225 blue-chip companies traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.