The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 0.8% to above 40,300 while the broader Topix Index gained 0.1% to 2,859 on Wednesday, with Japanese shares rising for the fourth straight session and taking cues from a strong lead on Wall Street overnight as major US technology stocks pushed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite to new record closes.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell also acknowledged progress on inflation but emphasized that the central bank is not yet ready to lower interest rates.

Meanwhile, final data showed that business activity in Japan turned contractionary in June for the first time since November.

Technology stocks led the advance, with gains from Disco Corp (2.1%), Tokyo Electron (1.5%), Keyence (0.9%), Taiyo Yuden (7.2%) and Screen holdings (4.6%).

Meanwhile, Toyota Motor fell 0.7% after its North American unit reported a 1.2% decline in sales for June.

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