(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 12 mag - Japanese shares closed higher, as tech and AI stocks extended their gains over optimism for AI-driven demand.

Investors largely shrugged off recent geopolitical warnings from US president Donald Trump, focusing instead on internal policy shifts and the high-profile visit of US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent.

Bessent met with Japanese finance minister Satsuki Katayama and is scheduled to hold talks with prime minister Sanae Takaichi.

On the economic data front, household spending for groups of two or more people fell by a real 2.9% year on year in March, reaching an average of 334,701 yen, according to the Statistics Bureau of Japan. Conversely, worker households saw their average monthly income climb to 557,663 yen, representing a real term increase of 4.7% compared to the previous year.

Gains were led by tech and AI-related stocks, as the Nikkei.

225 closed up 0.52% at 62,742.57 points.

(RADIOCOR) 12-05-26 09:00:15 (0202) 5 NNNN