Japan's Nikkei 225 index posted its biggest one-day point gain on record on Thursday, closing at 62,833.84, up 3,320.72 points or 5.57 per cent on the day. The benchmark cleared 63,000 in intraday trading for the first time.
The rally was concentrated in export-sensitive sectors, with auto and machinery names benefiting from the yen's weakness against the dollar. Semiconductor-equipment makers Tokyo Electron and Advantest each added more than 7 per cent on optimism about US AI capital-spending plans.
Sentiment was lifted by hopes that the United States and Iran are closing in on an agreement to end their conflict, which has weighed on Asian markets through energy-import costs.
The broader Topix index added 4.2 per cent. Bank stocks lagged the wider market as Japanese sovereign-yield curves flattened on the prospect that the Bank of Japan would be slow to follow up its limited tightening of recent years.
The yen-buying interventions suspected over the Golden Week holiday have been only partially successful in stabilising the currency. The yen still trades near 155 per dollar, well below levels considered comfortable for the Ministry of Finance.
Foreign investors were net buyers in the latest TSE flow data, with active mutual funds adding to long-standing underweight positions in Japan, according to brokerage flow desks.