Japanese Shares Rise on Bond Buyback Hopes; Oil Gains
Japanese stocks gained after the US Treasury announced plans to double its buyback for longer-maturity debt, easing investor concerns over rising yields and funding costs for artificial intelligence investments.The benchmark Nikkei 225 closed up 890.37 points, or 1.36%, at 66,216.79.Oil prices extended gains on concerns over prolonged supply disruptions as Middle East tensions persisted, with the US ruling out talks with Iran and Washington and Tehran issuing conflicting claims over shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz.On the corporate side, SoftBank (TYO:94340) said it conducted Japan's first trial of an AI-native scheduler for link adaptation on a commercial 5G network with Ericsson Japan KK, the Japanese unit of Swedish networking and telecommunications firm Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC), according to a Thursday release.Also, Nissan Motor (TYO:7201) subsidiary Nissan Motorsports & Customizing will sell its Kicks Rock Creek custom car model in Japan starting Dec. 23, according to a Thursday release.
