Mumbai, Aug. 12 -- Japanese markets rallied as concerns over tariff levels eased, boosting optimism over trade with the United States.

The Nikkei average jumped 2.15 percent to 42,718.17, the highest closing ever, as traders returned to their desks after a holiday on Monday. The broader Topix index closed up 1.39 percent at 3,066.37.

Tech stocks surged, with heavyweight SoftBank Group climbing nearly 7 percent to a record high following reports that the company has selected four banks to help it prepare for a U.S. listing of its payments app operator PayPay.

Advantest surged 6.3 percent, Lasertec soared 7.1 percent and Tokyo Electron added 1.1 percent.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Capital Market....