Nikkei, Topix, CSI 300: Wall Street rally drives Asian stock markets up

Asian stock markets surged on Wednesday, driven by a boom in AI stocks and positive corporate outlooks. Hopes for a de-escalation in the Iran conflict and falling oil prices also contributed to the upbeat mood. Japan's Nikkei index rose by around 3.7 percent to 66,300 points, reaching its highest closing level in around two weeks.

The broader Topix gained 2.1 percent. The Shanghai stock exchange added 1.4 percent, while the index of major companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen rose by 1.2 percent. The South Korean stock market climbed by 3.8 percent. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones had reached record highs on Wall Street. In Japan, shares of chip testing equipment manufacturer Advantest jumped by 8.7 percent, and those of chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron rose by 3.3 percent.

They followed the US Philadelphia Semiconductor index, which had gained 6.6 percent. Shares of Murata Manufacturing, a manufacturer of components for AI servers, soared by 9.8 percent after the company raised its profit forecast. Robot manufacturer Fanuc also benefited from a better outlook, rising by 4.4 percent. "A series of upward revisions to Japanese companies' forecasts is a positive factor for the overall stock market," said Daisuke Hashizume, a strategist at Daiwa Securities.

In China, however, shares of AI hardware companies declined. According to sources familiar with the matter, the Trump administration is considering a ban on imports of new models of Chinese data center components into the US. Shares of export-dependent optical module manufacturers Zhongji Innolight and Eoptolink Technology lost 7 percent and 5 percent, respectively.