Japanese stocks largely firmed past a 25 basis point interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan on Tuesday

Nikkei 225 was among the better performers for the day, rising 0.6% and coming close to a record high of over 70,000 points hit on Tuesday.

The TOPIX index added 0.75%.

Chipmaking and industrial stocks were the best performers in the index, aided by optimism over continued artificial intelligence-driven demand for the sectors.

Trade data released earlier on Wednesday showed AI-related electronics and semiconductor sales drove strong export growth in May, helping Japan clock a smaller-than-expected trade deficit for the month.

SoftBank Group Corp. lagged, dropping as much as 5% after reports showed OpenAI– in which the company is a major investor– was struggling with mounting costs and persistent losses tied to running its expensive AI models.

Japanese stocks largely firmed past a 25 basis point interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan on Tuesday. The central bank also signalled readiness to hike rates further in the face of energy-driven inflation.

Broader Asian stocks rose on Wednesday, with Singapore’s Straits Times index surging more than 1% to a record high.

Singapore’s non-oil exports grew much more than expected in May, advancing at their fastest pace in over 20 years amid solid AI-driven demand for electronics.

ASX 200 advanced 0.5% after the Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates unchanged as expected on Tuesday.

Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 added 0.3%, while the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.1%. Hang Seng index slipped 0.75%, following weak Chinese economic prints from earlier this week.

KOSPI traded sideways, pausing for breath after logging heightened volatility on wild swings in chipmaking stocks.