Tech stocks lift Japan's Nikkei on boost from Nvidia's robust outlook
By Brigid Riley
TOKYO, May 23 (Reuters) -Japan's Nikkei share average rose on Thursday led by a rally in technology stocks, after U.S. peer Nvidia's earnings delivered on sky-high expectations, although concerns about the domestic central bank's policy outlook limited gains.
Markets were not disappointed in the week's most closely-watched event, with Nvidia NVDA.O hitting a record high after the U.S. chipmaker forecasted quarterly revenue above estimates on Wednesday and announced a stock split. .N
"Nvidia earnings were better than expected, so that was definitely positive for Japanese tech stocks, especially semiconductor-related companies," said Kenji Abe, equities analyst at Daiwa Securities.
With the rally in artificial intelligence-related stocks getting a reassuring boost, tech shares led gains on the Nikkei share average .N225, which was up 0.77% at 38,913.48 by the midday break.
The broader Topix .TOPX was up 0.37% at 2747.49.
Chip-related shares have been among the Nikkei's best performers over the past year, helping the benchmark index climb to a record intraday high of 41,087.75 in March.
But gains were subdued outside of tech on Thursday, and a little less than half of the Nikkei's 225 constituents declined.
Caution regarding the Bank of Japan's policy path weighed on sentiment, in the wake of an unexpected cut to the bank's bond offer amounts last week and recent hawkish signals, analysts said.
Japan's 10-year government bond yield rose to a more than decade high of 1% on Wednesday, a psychologically significant level that brings the market's policy concerns back to the forefront.
On Thursday, AI-focused startup investor SoftBank Group 9984.T, up 3.6%, and chip-making equipment giant Tokyo Electron 8035.T, climbing 1.1%, together added almost 100 points to the Nikkei's 296-point gain.
Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest 6857.T, which counts Nvidia among its customers, rose 3.5% to contribute another 51 points.
Chip manufacturer Disco Corp 6146.T surged 6.8%.
Among decliners, videogame maker Nexon 3659.T slid 4.7% to the bottom of the pack, while mobile phone company KDDI 9433.T fell 1.1%. Chugai Pharmaceutical 4519.T lost 2.3%.
Reporting by Brigid Riley; Editing by Rashmi Aich
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