Nikkei races to fresh 34-year high, all-time peak in sight

A man looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo. - AP

TOKYO: Japan's benchmark Nikkei got off to a roaring start on Friday, hitting 34-year highs and was on the cusp of eclipsing the all-time peak reached during the hey days of the nation's bubble economy in the 1980s.

The index blew past the post-economic bubble era record of 38188.74, putting it on course to surpass the life-time high of 38,957.44 reached in December 1989.