TOKYO: Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 28.2 percent in 2023, its best yearly performance in a decade. The Nikkei closed down 0.22 percent, or 75.45 points, at 33,464.17 on Friday, the final trading day of the year ahead of a lengthy New Year’s holiday break.

“Warren Buffett’s comments triggered a reappraisal of Japanese equities” in 2023, senior market analyst Masayuki Doshida of Rakuten Securities said, referring to the US billionaire investor.

Buffett told local media in April that he intended to buy additional Japanese stocks, with his Berkshire Hathaway then acquiring shares in five major Japanese trading firms.

“The Nikkei index regained its upward momentum on the back of expectations for structural reforms in domestic companies, a boost to the economy from inbound tourism and the outlook for continued monetary easing policy,” Doshida added.

In 2013, the Nikkei index surged 56.7 percent on the back of a weaker yen and the “Abenomics” economic policy of then prime minister Shinzo Abe.