Japan's Nikkei tops 43,000 for first time ever
The Nikkei gained as much as 1.7% to touch an unprecedented 43,451.46 before ending the day at a record-high closing level of 43,274.67.
That took its winning run to 7.4% since August 4. Monday of this week was a national holiday in Japan.
The broader Topix advanced as much as 1.2% to a record 3,103.31 points, before finishing at 3,091.91 - also booking a sixth session of gains in a row.
Overnight, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended at record highs as a moderate reading of July inflation bolstered bets for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut next month.
"A sense of relief is permeating through markets following the US consumer price index data, leading Japanese stocks to take a step higher," said Maki Sawada, an equities strategist at Nomura Securities.
At the same time, "there are signs that the Nikkei is overheated after its extremely steep rally, and a steep drop at any time wouldn't come as any surprise," she added.
Of the Nikkei's 225 components, 151 rose compared to 74 that fell.
Tech shares stood out, with chipmaker Renesas Electronics jumping almost 7%, chip-testing equipment maker Advantest rising 5.4% and Sony Group gaining 3.5%.
A strong earnings season continued to power big advances for some stocks, with tyre maker Yokohama Rubber vaulting 8.3% to be the Nikkei's biggest percentage gainer.
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