Japanese equities continued their positive run for the third session in a row on Wednesday, closing with gains lifted by AI-related shares and favorable domestic economic data.
The Nikkei 225 closed up 0.59%, or 412.64 points, to 70,474.96.
Consumer confidence in Japan improved marginally in June, with the index measuring sentiment rising to 33.8 from 33.6 in the previous month, beating the 34.1 consensus forecast tracked by Investing.com, data released by the Cabinet Office on Wednesday showed.
Also, operating conditions across Japan's manufacturing sector improved in June, with the final au Jibun Bank Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, coming in at 54.8, compared with the 54.5 recorded in the previous month, according to data released on Wednesday.
On the corporate side, Japan has selected a consortium backed by SoftBank Corp.(TYO:9434) to spearhead a five-year national project developing a homegrown multimodal AI platform, with total public investment expected to reach 1 trillion yen.
Also, Synspective (TYO:290A) has secured a subsidy for the Global South Future-Oriented Co-Creation program for small-scale demonstration and feasibility study projects in Japan, according to a Wednesday filing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.