The Japanese Nikkei index closed at its highest level in three weeks on Wednesday, rising by 1.33% to finish at 27,883.78 points, marking its highest point since March 10 and the largest daily increase since March 22. The broader Topix index also increased by 1.46% to 1,995.48 points.
Shigetoshi Kamada, General Manager of Research at Tachibana Securities, confirmed that Japanese stocks rose due to demand for higher dividend-paying stocks, while gains in the SoftBank Group provided further support.
SoftBank's shares surged by 6.18%, becoming the biggest contributor to the Nikkei index with a 62-point impact, following Alibaba Group's announcement of plans to split into six units and explore fundraising or listings for most of them.
