TOKYO: Japan's Nikkei share average jumped more than 4% on Friday, buoyed by a rally on Wall Street as Microsoft led a rebound in tech shares after delivering forecasts that eased fears about the industry's massive AI infrastructure spending.
The Nikkei surged 4.7% to 64,781.35 by 0025 GMT in its second straight session of gains, while the broader Topix rose 1.4%.
Chip-testing equipment manufacturer Advantest gained 18%, chip-making machinery maker Tokyo Electron climbed 9.3% and AI-focused startup investor SoftBank Group climbed 15%.
Overnight, the U.S. S&P 500 gained 1.7% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 2.8%.
The Bank of Japan will announce its monetary policy decision later in the day. The central bank is widely expected to keep policy steady and signal its resolve to continue pushing up borrowing costs, as mounting price pressures from the weak yen and Middle East conflict risk driving underlying inflation above its target.
The policy announcement does not come at a set time, but is expected around 0330-0430 GMT.
On Thursday, Japanese officials conducted their first currency intervention in three months to prop up the yen, a market source said, sending it up as much as 3.6% from near a four-decade low to the U.S. dollar. - Reuters
