Japan’s Nikkei index broke through the 67,000 mark for the first time on Monday morning, boosted by shares of companies linked to artificial intelligence, while startup investor SoftBank Group overtook Toyota Motor to become the most valuable company in Japan.

The Nikkei index rose 1.1 percent to 67,038.24 points in midday trading, after reaching 67,231.28 points.

SoftBank Group provided the biggest boost to the index by a wide margin, with its shares jumping 10.3 percent to push the Nikkei up 618 points out of a total of 709.

The company's market capitalization rose to about 47.2 trillion yen ($296.0 billion), while Toyota's value shrank to about 45.7 trillion yen after its shares fell 4.8 percent on Monday.

Over the weekend, SoftBank pledged to provide around 75 billion euros ($87.3 billion) over five years to build artificial intelligence infrastructure in France.

The gap between technology stocks and the rest of the market was evident in the performance of the broader Topix index, which fell 0.2 percent.

The Nikkei and Topix indexes hit record highs on Friday, buoyed by optimism that an agreement to resolve the Middle East conflict would soon be reached, but the new week began with Washington and Tehran still at odds over key issues.

“Given current expectations of expanding demand for AI servers, buying interest is spreading to AI-related stocks that have been lagging behind, such as electronic components manufacturer Murata,” said Maki Sawada, an analyst at Nomura Securities.

Murata shares jumped 14.1 percent, posting the biggest percentage gain on the Nikkei index.

Of the 33 sub-indices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, eight rose, led by the information technology sector index, which jumped 4.3 percent. The automotive sector was among the worst performers, falling 4.2 percent.

On the Nikkei index, 73 out of 225 stocks rose, while 152 stocks fell.

Not all chip-related stocks rose, with Advantest shares falling 2.2 percent and Fujikura shares falling 3.6 percent.

Shares of Mitsubishi Motors recorded the biggest percentage losses, plummeting 9.1 percent.