Bangkok: Asian shares forged ahead Thursday after a blistering rally on Wall Street, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index surging over 42,000 for the first time.Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were down 0.1 per cent. The Nikkei 225 jumped 0.9 per cent to close at 42,224.02, again surpassing its all-time high after closing at records on Tuesday and Wednesday. Buying was strong for a wide range of shares, with electronics makers leading gains. Sony Group Corp. up 3.6 per cent and Disco Corp., which makes precision tools, up 3.4 per cent. Electric components maker Murata Manufacturing Corp. gained 2.8 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong climbed 2.1 per cent to 17,831.40 and the Shanghai Composite index surged 1.1 per cent to 2,970.39. In Seoul, the Kospi advanced 0.8 per cent to 2,891.35. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.9 per cent to 7,889.60. Taiwan’s Taiex advanced 1.6 per cent as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. jumped 3.4 per cent. TSMC’s US-listed shares rose 3.5 per cent on Wednesday after it said its revenue climbed nearly 33 per cent in June from a year earlier. The company makes chips for Nvidia and others that have been driving the business world’s rush into artificial-intelligence technology.

The promise of big profits in the future from AI has sent Nvidia in particular to breathtaking heights over the last year, and Nvidia rose another 2.7 per cent Wednesday to bring its gain for the year so far to 172.5 per cent. It was again the strongest single force pushing the S&P 500 upward as the rally on Wall Street stretched into a seventh day as big technology companies led the way.