TOKYO -- Cash-rich Japanese companies have finally opened their wallets for pay raises and growth investments, helping spur the stock market even higher amid hopes for stronger consumer spending and the start of a virtuous cycle.
The Nikkei Stock Average advanced 263.14 points on March 13 to end the day at 19,254.25, closing above 19,000 for the first time in nearly 15 years. The benchmark index passed 18,000 just 19 trading days earlier, on Feb. 16. This sharp growth is on par with the rally in spring 2013, when the index jumped 1,000 points in 18 trading days soon after the Bank of Japan implemented unprecedented monetary easing.
