Japan’s Nikkei index hits record high above 41k on tech gains, weak yen

Investing.com-- Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose to a record high on Tuesday as technology stocks tracked their U.S. peers, while a weak yen boosted export stocks and also spurred foreign buying in local markets. 

The Nikkei 225 rose over 1% to 41,283.0 points, hitting a new peak above one established in late-March. 

The broader TOPIX index rose 0.3% and remained in sight of a record high hit last week.

Gains in the Nikkei were driven chiefly by technology stocks, which tracked an overnight bounce in their U.S. peers as investors remained largely optimistic over the prospects of artificial intelligence. 

A report from Nikkei Asia showed that Sony (NYSE:SONY) and other major Japanese chipmakers planned to spend about $5 billion to increase production over the next five years.

Export-oriented stocks also clocked strong gains as the Japanese yen remained near its weakest levels in 38 years. 

Recent gains in Japanese markets came as a swathe of weak economic readings spurred bets that the Bank of Japan will have little headroom to tighten policy further, after a historic rate hike in March.

This notion dented the yen, inviting more foreign buyers into Japanese markets. Recent data showed foreign purchases of Japanese stocks hit an over 2-½ month high in the last week of June.