Tokyo stocks close at record high, briefly top 63,000 mark

On the Tokyo stock market, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index has closed at a new record high, at one point passing the 63,000 mark for the first time.

Investors returned on Thursday following Japan’s spring break. The Nikkei 225 briefly rose more than 3,500 points. It’s the biggest intraday rise on record.

The market closed at 62,833, up by more than 5.5 percent. Investors in Tokyo snapped up AI and semiconductor-related shares after the Nasdaq index in New York hit a new high.

The surge comes on the back of rising hopes for an easing of tensions in the Middle East.