Japan's Nikkei tracks tech-led Wall Street rally as BOJ awaited
QQQ•Nikkei rises on Wall Street tech rebound
Japan's Nikkei share average rose for a second day on Friday, buoyed by a rally on Wall Street as Microsoft MSFT.O led a rebound in tech shares after delivering forecasts that eased fears about the industry's massive AI infrastructure spending.
The Nikkei .N225 gained more than 2% to 63,141.73 by 0011 GMT, although heavyweight tech names had yet to trade but were bid higher. The broader Topix .TOPX rose 0.6%.
Chip-testing equipment manufacturer Advantest 6857.T, chip-making machinery maker Tokyo Electron 8035.T and AI-focused startup investor SoftBank Group 9984.T were all yet to trade.
Overnight, the U.S. S&P 500 .SPX gained 1.7% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC climbed 2.8%.
BOJ decision and yen intervention awaited
The Bank of Japan will announce its monetary policy decision later in the day. The central bank is widely expected to keep policy steady and signal its resolve to continue pushing up borrowing costs, as mounting price pressures from the weak yen and Middle East conflict risk driving underlying inflation above its target.
The policy announcement does not come at a set time, but is expected around 0330-0430 GMT.
On Thursday, Japanese officials conducted first currency intervention in three months to prop up the yen, a market source said, sending it up as much as 3.6% from near a four-decade low to the U.S. dollar.
