Nikkei hits record high above 2%, boosted by tech shares

Tokyo's stock market opened with a significant surge on Wednesday, as the Nikkei index climbed over 2% to break the 68,000-point barrier for the first time.

The benchmark index reached 68,136.31 points after an hour of trading, buoyed by a strong performance from technology and semiconductor companies. Tokyo Electron led the gains, soaring 9.2%, followed by Disco Corp at 6.14% and Advantest at 4.5%. Kioxia also saw substantial growth, reaching historic highs.

Despite the overall market optimism, SoftBank, the telecommunications and investment giant, experienced a downturn, falling 3.86%. This occurred shortly after SoftBank became Japan's most valuable company, surpassing Toyota, due to its investments in AI ventures like OpenAI.

Automakers presented a mixed picture. Toyota, which had held the top market capitalization spot for 22 years, saw a modest increase of 1.39%. Its rival Honda gained 4.15%, while Nissan dipped slightly by 0.27%. The broader Topix index, which includes major companies, also rose, increasing by 1.63%.