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
Protectionism does not build competitiveness, but destroys EU opportunities for digital transformation, Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday.
Guo made the remarks in response to a media query about reports that the Connect Europe lobby group -- representing telecoms operators -- said in an open letter on Tuesday that the European Commission's proposed Digital Networks Act and the revised Cybersecurity Act could saddle the industry with as much as 40 billion euros in replacement costs, and risk "draining the sector of the very capital needed for fiber, 5G and 6G" infrastructure.
The letter was signed by 17 senior executives from European telecoms operators, among them the chief executives of France's Orange, Germany's Deutsche Telekom and Spain's Telefonica, said the reports.
"China noticed relevant reports. According to the assessment by relevant institutions, the Act will possibly cause loss of up to over 360 billion euros in the EU within the next five years. The open letter by the European telecommunication companies is yet another example that the EU's moves will only hurt others while bringing no benefits to its own. Protectionism does not build competitiveness, but destroys EU opportunities for digital transformation, harms EU's socioeconomic development, tarnishes its open-market reputation, and dampens foreign companies' confidence in investing in the EU. We hope the EU will heed the voice of reason across various sectors and not adopt discriminatory restrictions," Guo said.
Protectionism destroys EU opportunities for digital transformation: spokesman
