SoftBank Leads Japan Tech Rally as Nikkei 225 Hits New Record High

Japanese markets surged on Thursday as investors returned from the extended Golden Week holidays to a powerful global technology rally driven by artificial intelligence optimism.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped more than 5% to reach a fresh record high, led by strong gains in technology and semiconductor shares.

SoftBank Group emerged as one of the market’s biggest gainers, with its shares soaring more than 16% during trading. The rally marked the company’s strongest single-day performance since 2020 if gains hold through the close.

Investor enthusiasm spread across Japan’s semiconductor sector as global demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure continued to fuel optimism.

Semiconductor testing equipment maker Advantest climbed nearly 8%, while chip equipment supplier Tokyo Electron advanced more than 9%. Renesas Electronics also surged close to 14% as investors increased exposure to AI-related technology stocks.

The rally followed another strong session on Wall Street, where the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite reached a new record high amid gains in major artificial intelligence companies.

In the United States, chipmaker AMD surged nearly 19% after issuing strong forecasts tied to data center demand. Arm Holdings rose 13%, while Super Micro Computer jumped over 24%, further strengthening confidence in global AI-related investments.

Market analysts said Japanese stocks were effectively catching up after local markets remained closed while global equities rallied earlier in the week.

Billy Leung said Japan’s market rebound reflected accumulated gains from several sessions of global trading activity dominated by AI and semiconductor optimism.

He noted that companies such as Advantest and Tokyo Electron have become key Japanese beneficiaries of the worldwide AI semiconductor boom due to their strong exposure to advanced chip manufacturing and testing technologies.

SoftBank’s strong performance was also linked to its close relationship with Arm Holdings and artificial intelligence company OpenAI, both viewed by investors as central players in the future AI ecosystem.

Analysts said the market is increasingly focused on rising demand for AI inference systems, cloud computing infrastructure, and next-generation data centers, all of which require advanced semiconductor technologies.

Rolf Bulk said growing demand for AI inference and agentic AI systems is creating significant opportunities across the semiconductor supply chain.

He highlighted that data center CPUs are becoming critical infrastructure components as AI workloads expand rapidly across industries.

Investor sentiment also received support from easing geopolitical concerns after signs of progress emerged in diplomatic talks between the United States and Iran. Falling oil prices helped improve risk appetite globally, adding further momentum to equity markets.

The latest rally reinforces how artificial intelligence continues to dominate global investor attention, with semiconductor and infrastructure companies remaining at the center of the ongoing market surge.