The Nikkei 225 jumped 1.3% to above 48,300, while the broader Topix Index advanced 0.4% to 3,248 on Thursday, recovering from earlier losses as SoftBank Group surged more than 8% amid an aggressive expansion into artificial intelligence. The investment giant announced a $5.4 billion deal to acquire the robotics unit of Swiss engineering firm ABB and revealed that its UK-based chip designer Graphcore plans to invest $1.3 billion in India. The rally lifted other AI-related tech names, with Advantest up 0.6%, Disco Corp 1.8%, and Tokyo Electron 1.5%. The gains tracked overnight strength in US chipmakers, which drove the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite to new record highs on optimism about AI deals. Meanwhile, investors continued to weigh the policy outlook in Japan following the election of pro-stimulus candidate Sanae Takaichi as the country’s next prime minister.