Mumbai, Oct. 1 -- Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 3.3% to 68,957 on Thursday, marking its second straight day of gains and its highest level in six weeks.

Technology and AI-related stocks led the rise after Micron Technology gave a strong revenue outlook, pointing to continued demand for memory chips used in AI systems.

Japanese chip stocks gained strongly, with Kioxia, Advantest, Taiyo Yuden, Murata Manufacturing and Lasertec all posting sharp increases. In contrast, Nidec fell 10.8% after its auditor declined to give an opinion on the company's delayed financial statements.

Market sentiment was also supported by better business confidence data. Manufacturing sentiment improved to its strongest level in more than eight years, while overall bu...