Al Jazeera – Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera | Japan’s stock market hits new record as AI boom gathers steam AI generated summary, Read the full article for complete information. Japan’s stock market surged to a new all‑time high in early June 2026 as a global AI‑driven buying frenzy lifted the Nikkei 225 above 68,000 for the first time, a near‑3 percent jump that contributes to a 33 percent gain for the year. Analysts attribute the rally to soaring demand for AI chips, which is boosting semiconductor‑related Japanese firms such as Tokyo Electron (+14 %), Advantest (+5.5 %) and Shin‑Etsu Chemical (+4 %). While SoftBank slipped 3 % after briefly overtaking Toyota as the country’s largest company by market value, the broader market benefits from a weak yen and strong chip demand. The AI boom is also propelling record highs in other Asian markets and driving unprecedented capital spending, with U.S. tech giants slated to invest about $800 billion in AI infrastructure in 2026 and Alphabet planning $80 billion of share sales to fund $180‑190 billion of AI‑related capex. Read more: https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026/6/3/japans-stock-market-hits-new-record-as-ai-boom-gathers-steam?traffic_source=rss #Nikkei225 #TokyoElectron #Advantest #Shin_EtsuChemical #SoftBank