TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei share average rose on Monday, hitting 39,000 points for the first time in a month, as higher expectations for US interest rate cuts continue to keep market sentiment upbeat.

The Nikkei closed 0.73% higher at 39,069.68, jumping over 1% during trading before profit-taking set in. It was the first time the benchmark index reached the psychologically significant 39,000-point range since April 15.

The broader Topix was up 0.82% at 2768.04.

A milder inflation report last week has investors once again pricing in US rate cuts as early as September, buoying global market sentiment and in turn boosting Japanese equities.

Wall Street, which Japan’s stock market tends to track, saw stock indexes lock in weekly gains despite ending mixed on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high.

Futures of US stock indexes were also up during Tokyo trading time, which may also have provided investors with a “sense of confidence,” said Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management.

The Nikkei hit an all-time high of 41,087.75 earlier this year before falling nearly 5% last month in its largest monthly drop since December 2022.