The Nikkei 225 Index climbed 1.73% to close at 53,689, while the broader Topix Index rose 0.74% to 3,616 on Thursday, snapping a five-day losing streak as Japanese shares were lifted by a strong rally in chip and artificial intelligence related stocks. Sentiment was boosted by comments from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which reinforced investor enthusiasm for the AI theme. Top performers in the technology sector included Kioxia Holdings (8.6%), SoftBank Group (11.6%), Lasertec (5.8%), Disco Corp (17.1%) and Advantest (5%). Meanwhile, Japanese government bond yields retreated from historic highs as investors continued to assess the country’s fiscal outlook. Local equities also tracked gains on Wall Street overnight after US President Donald Trump ruled out using force to acquire Greenland and scaled back tariff threats against European countries following a framework for a future agreement.
