TOKYO, July 31 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average rose

for a second day on Friday, buoyed by a rally on Wall Street as

Microsoft ( MSFT ) led a rebound in tech shares after delivering

forecasts that eased fears about the industry's massive AI

infrastructure spending.

The Bank of Japan will announce its monetary policy decision

later in the day. The central bank is widely expected to keep

policy steady and signal its resolve to continue pushing up

borrowing costs, as mounting price pressures from the weak yen

and Middle East conflict risk driving underlying inflation above

its target.

The policy announcement does not come at a set time, but is

expected around 0330-0430 GMT.

On Thursday, Japanese officials conducted first currency

intervention in three months to prop up the yen, a market source

said, sending it up as much as 3.6% from near a four-decade low

to the U.S. dollar.

The Nikkei gained more than 2% to 63,141.73 by 0011

GMT, although heavyweight tech names had yet to trade but were

bid higher. The broader Topix rose 0.6%.

Chip-testing equipment manufacturer Advantest ( ADTTF ),

chip-making machinery maker Tokyo Electron ( TOELF ) and

AI-focused startup investor SoftBank Group were all yet

to trade.

Overnight, the U.S. S&P 500 gained 1.7% and the

tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 2.8%.

(Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)