Japanese markets soar on tech momentum

Asian stocks ended mixed in cautious trade on Friday as concerns about a U.S. government shutdown and potential federal job cuts offset excitement around AI as well as expectations of further interest-rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Japanese markets soared as tech momentum showed no sign of fading and investors awaited a key ruling party vote that will decide the country's next Prime Minister.

The Nikkei average jumped 1.85 percent to close at a record high of 45,769.50 while the broader Topix index settled 1.35 percent higher at 3,129.17.

Hitachi shares surged 10.3 percent after the conglomerate announced a strategic partnership with OpenAI to build AI infrastructure and expand data centers globally.

Other tech firms followed suit, with Renesas Electronics climbing 7.3 percent and SoftBank Group rising 3.6 percent.

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