Japan’s Nikkei stock index briefly tops record high

Japan’s benchmark index continues to scale new peaks, rising briefly above the record closing high level reached at the height of the Japanese asset bubble in 1989. The Nikkei Stock Average JP:NIKwas 1.7% higher at 38,924.88 for a brief moment on Thursday morning, topping the record closing high of 38,915.87 set on Dec. 29, 1989. The index was recently up 1.6% at 38,868.56, compared with the intraday record high of 38,957.44, also reached on the same day in 1989.The benchmark index had cli