Japan’s Nikkei 225 is on track for a 36% gain over the past three months, the sharpest quarterly advance in records going back to 1965, capping a record-setting run powered by artificial intelligence and semiconductor stocks.
Key Takeaways:
The Nikkei 225 is poised for a 36% quarterly gain, its strongest in data dating back to 1965.A rebound in AI and semiconductor shares drove the index to records above 64,000 points.A weak yen, near its lowest since 1986, has amplified gains for Japan’s big exporters.The Nikkei 225, Japan’s benchmark stock index, is closing out the quarter with a roughly 36% rise, a pace not seen in six decades. The rally has been led by a rebound in technology shares, with chip and artificial intelligence (AI) names driving the index to fresh record highs above the 64,000 mark.
The advance has been broad and fast, given the Nikkei set an all-time high earlier in the year and has continued to climb ever since (leaving it up sharply against the same period in 2025). Analysts have tied the surge to renewed appetite for AI infrastructure and a recovery in semiconductor demand, the same forces lifting equity benchmarks elsewhere.
The same rate gap pressuring the yen, the Bank of Japan’s low policy rate against far higher U.S. rates, has supported risk assets globally, and Tokyo’s exporters have been among the clearest beneficiaries. A stronger yen, by contrast, could erode the earnings boost that has underpinned much of the quarter’s gains.
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