Japan’s benchmark stock index surged past a record high last set 35 years ago after greater-than-expected earnings from tech giant Nvidia fuelled a clamour for AI-related shares.
The highly-anticipated results from US chip titan Nvidia beat expectations as they were published after Wall Street closed on Wednesday, with the company reporting a quarterly profit of $12.3bn (£9.7bn) on record-high revenue driven by demand for its AI-powering chips.
Following a mixed day on Wall Street, the company announced record revenue of $22.1bn in the quarter that ended in January and $60.9bn for the fiscal year.
Analysts had predicted its bumper profits could drive up Asian markets, and Japan’s blue-chip Nikkei 225 more than delivered.
It climbed closed 2.2pc higher to end at 39,098.68 breaking a record set in 1989 before the country’s financial bubble burst.
After the peak, as banks wrote off some 100 trillion yen in bad debts, shares meandered well below the record for many years — dipping below 8,200 in 2011 after the triple disasters of a massive earthquake and tsunamis and meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan.
Kim Forrest, chief investment officer of Bokeh Capital Partners, told Bloomberg: “As goes Nvidia, so goes the market.”
Ms Forrest added its earnings report “does confirm the narrative that AI is going to continue to be strong for the foreseeable future”.
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