Global Markets | Japan's Nikkei rises to a record, boosted by reflationist nominations for BOJ board

Japan's ​Nikkei share average climbed to another record on Wednesday, ​driven by a surge in tech-related stocks and waning expectations of an imminent policy rate hike after new central bank board member nominations.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index ‌rose 2.2% to ⁠close ⁠at 58,583.12 after rising as much as 2.7%. The broader Topix gained 0.7% at 3,843.16.

The Japanese government on Wednesday nominated two academics seen by markets as strong advocates of ​economic stimulus to join the Bank of Japan's nine-member board, in moves seen reflecting Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi administration's monetary policy preferences.


"In the ​market, some say the appointees to the ⁠board are viewed ‌as dovish and, in the short term, ​are likely ​to weaken the yen and lift stocks," said Tomoichiro ⁠Kubota, senior market analyst at Matsui Securities.

Semiconductor-related shares contributed ​to lifting the Nikkei index the most, with chip-testing ​equipment maker Advantest rising 7.5%, to push up the index by more than 520 points, while chipmaking equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron's 4.2% jump helped the index rise by over 180 points.

IT services firm NEC Corp rose 2.4%, after a 6.2% tumble the previous day, as ‌investors' apprehension over artificial intelligence disruption eased.

Nomura Research Institute shares surged as much as 9% before retreating and were ​still up ​6.7% following an announcement ⁠that the consulting firm had set up support services for introducing Anthropic's Claude and would further collaborate with the AI lab.

On Wednesday, there were ​142 advancers on the Nikkei index against 80 decliners.

The largest percentage decliner was Nippon Steel with a 5.5% drop, after the Japanese steelmaker said on Tuesday it would increase its convertible bond offering to $3.9 billion, the biggest in Japan's corporate history.