Japan's Nikkei index jumped more than 3.5% on Thursday as shares of artificial intelligence-related companies rallied following upbeat quarterly earnings and revenue guidance from US memory chipmaker Micron.
The Nikkei climbed 3.72% to 71,754.53 points by 01:59 GMT, a move that would end two consecutive sessions of losses if the current momentum holds.
The broader Topix index advanced 1.34% to 4,016.71 points.
The technology-heavy Nikkei had declined over the previous two sessions following a sharp drop in shares of South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix earlier this week. Micron, a key supplier of AI processors to Nvidia and South Korean chipmakers, forecast quarterly earnings and revenues well above expectations and said customers had committed $22 billion to secure memory chip supplies, sending its shares up 12% in after-hours trading on Wednesday. SK Hynix, also a supplier to Nvidia, surged as much as 11.1% in early trading on Thursday.
Shares of chip-testing equipment maker Advantest jumped 11.8%, while Tokyo Electron, which makes chip manufacturing equipment, gained 7.9%. Memory chipmaker Kioxia rose 9%. Stocks in companies that manufacture materials for AI data centres also advanced, with Murata Manufacturing and Taiyo Yuden gaining 6.35% and 11% respectively. The energy sector bucked the trend, falling as oil prices continued to decline. The mining sector lost 3.2% as shares of Inpex fell 3.53%, and an index of oil refining companies slipped 0.11%.