Japanese shares rise on AI-shares rally, dividend hunt

Tokyo equities advanced on Friday, helped by gains in AI-linked shares and purchases made before a Monday cut-off for mid-term payouts, according to Business Recorder. The Nikkei stood 1.23% higher at 66,318.14 by the midday break, while the broader Topix gained 1.19% to 4,123.73. Banks, which tend to pay larger dividends, posted the strongest advance among the 33 industry sub-indexes of the TSE, climbing 3.23%.

Daiwa Securities strategist Daisuke Hashizume attributed the buying partly to investors seeking dividend rights, with chip stocks adding further demand. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group climbed 3.02% and was the heaviest contributor to the Topix's rise, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group added 2.9%. Tokyo Electron and Advantest, both chip-related, gained 4.04% and 2.45%, and were the main contributors to the Nikkei's rise.

Hashizume added that solid economic figures backed the technology rally, while central bank messages from the US and Japan about lifting rates to counter inflation boosted investor sentiment. SoftBank Group dropped 2.63% after Oracle shares slid 3% overnight, following a report that Oracle had issued a force majeure notice to a Blue Owl subsidiary linked to a large New Mexico data center, citing possible power delays. SoftBank is a co-investor with Oracle and OpenAI in the Stargate infrastructure project. Across the TSE prime market's more than 1,500 stocks, 68% advanced, 27% declined and 3% ended unchanged.