SoftBank Surges 16% as Nikkei 225 Hits Record on AI Rally

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 surged more than 5% to an all-time high Thursday, CNBC reported, as markets reopened following an extended Golden Week break and investors rushed to price in a powerful global AI-driven rally they had missed.

SoftBank Group led the charge with a gain of approximately 16.5%. That would mark the conglomerate’s strongest single-session performance since 2020. The move lifted spirits across the broader Japanese technology sector.

Tech Names Across the Board Catch Fire

The rally was not limited to SoftBank. Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest climbed nearly 8%, while semiconductor tools supplier Tokyo Electron jumped more than 9%. Chip solutions company Renesas Electronics posted an even sharper move, rising close to 14%. Investors interpreted strong AI infrastructure demand as a rising tide for the entire sector.

Global X ETFs investment strategist Billy Leung told CNBC that Tokyo had effectively compressed three sessions of global price action into a single trading day. He noted the Nasdaq and S&P 500 both hit fresh records while Japanese markets were shuttered, led by semiconductor and AI-linked names. He described Advantest and Tokyo Electron as the most liquid Japanese vehicles for expressing the AI semiconductor trade. Leung also cited easing U.S.-Iran tensions and falling oil prices as additional tailwinds for risk sentiment.

Why SoftBank Moved So Sharply

SoftBank’s outsized gain reflected its deep structural ties to Arm Holdings and AI firm OpenAI, which Leung characterised as making SoftBank effectively a listed proxy for both companies. Arm itself had surged 13% on Wall Street overnight, alongside an 18.6% jump in Advanced Micro Devices and a roughly 24.5% leap in server maker Super Micro Computer.

Rolf Bulk, head of semiconductor and infrastructure at The Futurum Group, told CNBC the move represented a continuation of U.S. AI-related gains combined with a strong read-across from AMD’s latest quarterly results. Bulk pointed to the growing role of CPUs in AI inference workloads, noting they manage agent coordination layers, database infrastructure, and API systems. He highlighted AMD’s projection that the total addressable market for data centre CPUs could reach $120 billion by 2030, expanding at more than 35% annually.

Background on the Golden Week Catch-Up Effect

Japan’s Golden Week holiday typically runs through early May, leaving domestic markets closed while global peers continue trading. When Tokyo reopens after a significant period of international gains, a sharp catch-up move is common. This week’s closure coincided with an unusually strong stretch for U.S. technology equities, amplifying Thursday’s rebound.

The Nikkei had already recovered substantially from April’s tariff-driven selloff. Thursday’s record pushed the index firmly into new territory.

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