The Japanese shares closed higher on Friday, lifted by the strong performance of AI and chip-related companies in the United States, said Timothy Pope, a market analyst for China Global Television Network (CGTN).
Tokyo stocks ended higher Friday, following robust earnings from AI- and chip-related companies in Japan and the United States.
The benchmark Nikkei stock index, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average, ended up 2,494.59 points, or 4.03 percent, from Thursday at 64,362.02.
The broader Topix index, meanwhile, finished 50.80 points, or 1.29 percent, higher at 4,003.30.
Driven by AI- and semiconductor-related shares, the benchmark Nikkei index briefly surged over 5 percent, as investor sentiment was buoyed by solid earnings reports from Microsoft Corp. and Tokyo Electron Ltd., analysts said.
"Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was up among the leaders, adding 4 percent again on the Microsoft news. A lot of the Nikkei's heavyweights are exposed to the U.S. AI and hyperscaling buildout -- Advantest up 16 percent while tech investor SoftBank added 14 percent. On the other end of things, however, on the equity market, it wasn't doing quite so well - automakers fell after reports of a currency intervention by the Japanese government to prop up the yen, which has been sitting near a 40 year low. And also the Bank of Japan surprised absolutely nobody by keeping interest rates unchanged, and saying it will be watching inflation to make sure things don't get too hot," Pope said.
Tokyo stocks plunge amid robust AI, chip earnings: analyst
