Japanese stocks rose for a second straight session on Friday, July 10, with the Nikkei Stock Average climbing 813.88 points to close at 68,557.73 after strong gains in U.S. technology and semiconductor stocks fueled renewed buying of AI-related shares. The Nikkei at one point surged more than 1,600 points and briefly reclaimed the 69,000 level before profit-taking trimmed gains. The TOPIX also finished higher, although its increase was limited to 0.3%. AI-related semiconductor stocks led the advance, with SoftBank Group rebounding about 11%, Sumitomo Electric Industries gaining around 7%, and Ibiden and Disco posting solid gains of roughly 3%. Investor sentiment improved after semiconductor stocks rallied broadly in the United States, with Micron Technology climbing 4.5%, AMD gaining more than 5%, and Seagate Technology jumping 7.5%. The market was also encouraged by strong demand for SK Hynix's planned U.S. ADR listing, with subscriptions exceeding seven times the shares on offer in a deal valued at about $26.5 billion. Micron also announced plans to invest up to $3 billion to strengthen semiconductor production in the United States. South Korea's KOSPI rose about 2.9%. Japanese equities received an additional boost after Finance Minister Katayama said the government would pursue measures encouraging public pension funds, including the GPIF, to increase investment in Japanese financial assets. The GPIF