The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 2.28% to close at 57,650 while the broader Topix Index gained 1.9% to 3,855 on Tuesday, with Japanese shares scaling fresh record highs, buoyed by expectations that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s decisive election victory will allow her to push through higher spending and tax cuts. Markets also gave her the benefit of the doubt after she said the stimulus measures would not further strain Japan’s public finances. Tech investing giant SoftBank Group surged 10.7% on renewed optimism around artificial intelligence and ahead of the company’s earnings on Thursday. Other tech and AI-related shares followed suit, including Fujikura (5%), Disco Corp (4.4%), Advantrest (1.2%) and Tokyo Electron (2.2%). Elsewhere, cable maker Furukawa Electric soared 22.9% on strong earnings, while IT services firm NEC jumped 7.3% after announcing a share buyback program.
