Bessent celebrates Nikkei milestone in meeting with Japan Finmin Katayama

A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

TOKYO — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent celebrated Japan’s Nikkei share average closing above the 50,000 level for the first time on Monday, in a meeting with Japanese finance minister Satsuki Katayama in Tokyo.

“It’s an honour to be here on the day it went over 50,000,” Bessent told Katayama. “Congratulations,” he added.

“I’ve been coming since 1991,” said Bessent, a former hedge fund manager known for having made hefty profits for betting against the yen in the 2010s.

Bessent arrived in Japan on Monday evening as part of the Asia tour of top U.S. officials led by President Donald Trump and met Katayama for the first time in person since she took office last week.

(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki and Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Toby Chopra)