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Japans benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index hit an all-time high on Thursday, closing up 2.2% to reach 39,098.68 and exceeding the previous record set in December 1989. The rise in the index of the biggest Japanese companies has been fuelled by a weak yen, which has boosted the fortunes of exporters, and investors cheering on Prime Minister Fumio Kishidas new capitalism economic reforms. In the mid-1980s, measures to support the economy and the yen had sparked a frenzied boom that catapulted the real estate and stock markets to unprecedented heights until it all came crashing down. Japans e