TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei share average rose on Thursday led by a rally in technology stocks, after US peer Nvidia’s earnings delivered on sky-high expectations, although concerns about the domestic central bank’s policy outlook limited gains.
Markets were not disappointed in the week’s most closely-watched event, with Nvidia hitting a record high after the US chipmaker forecasted quarterly revenue above estimates on Wednesday and announced a stock split.
“Nvidia earnings were better than expected, so that was definitely positive for Japanese tech stocks, especially semiconductor-related companies,” said Kenji Abe, equities analyst at Daiwa Securities.
Japan’s Nikkei share average crosses all-time high, breaking 1989 record
With the rally in artificial intelligence-related stocks getting a reassuring boost, tech shares led gains on the Nikkei share average, which was up 0.77% at 38,913.48 by the midday break.
The broader Topix was up 0.37% at 2747.49.
Chip-related shares have been among the Nikkei’s best performers over the past year, helping the benchmark index climb to a record intraday high of 41,087.75 in March.
But gains were subdued outside of tech on Thursday, and a little less than half of the Nikkei’s 225 constituents declined.
Caution regarding the Bank of Japan’s policy path weighed on sentiment, in the wake of an unexpected cut to the bank’s bond offer amounts last week and recent hawkish signals, analysts said.
Japan’s 10-year government bond yield rose to a more than decade high of 1% on Wednesday, a psychologically significant level that brings the market’s policy concerns back to the forefront.
On Thursday, AI-focused startup investor SoftBank Group , up 3.6%, and chip-making equipment giant Tokyo Electron, climbing 1.1%, together added almost 100 points to the Nikkei’s 296-point gain.
Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest, which counts Nvidia among its customers, rose 3.5% to contribute another 51 points. Chip manufacturer Disco Corp surged 6.8%.
Among decliners, videogame maker Nexon slid 4.7% to the bottom of the pack, while mobile phone company KDDI fell 1.1%.
Chugai Pharmaceutical lost 2.3%.
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