TOKYO, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average

climbed to a record high on Thursday, led by Softbank Group,

which tracked its U.S. peers higher on optimism over the growth

of AI-driven cloud businesses.

As of 0144 GMT, the Nikkei rose 0.8% to 44,198.10,

after touching a record high of 44,251.65 earlier in the day.

The broader Topix was flat at 3,149.38.

"SoftBank Group boosted the Nikkei, benefiting from

expectations that the cloud businesses would continue to grow

following a surge in shares in Oracle," said Yugo Tsuboi, chief

strategist at Daiwa Securities.

Oracle soared 36% overnight, marking its biggest

one-day percentage gain since 1992, after the tech company

pointed to a demand surge from AI firms for its cloud services,

helping the S&P 500 and Nasdaq notch record-high closes on

Wednesday.

Technology investor SoftBank Group jumped 9%, while

chip-testing equipment maker Advantest ( ADTTF ) rose 3.54%.

Cable maker Fujikura ( FKURF ), seen as a barometer for data

centre investments, gained 4%.

"Investors, however, are not entirely bullish on Japanese

stocks," said Daiwa's Tsuboi.

"If the market is positive about the outlook of the Japanese

economy, the bank shares should also rise, but they were weak

today."

The banking sector slipped 0.99% and the

insurance sector lost 1.09%, becoming the worst

performers among the Tokyo Stock Exchange's 33 industry

sub-indexes.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group ( MUFG ) and Mizuho Financial

Group ( MFG ) fell 1.46% and 1.04%, respectively. Dai-ichi Life

Holdings ( DCNSF ) shed 1.68%.

Meanwhile, the market remains uncertain about the Bank of

Japan's (BOJ) rate hike path, as the central bank weighs

domestic inflation and the economic hit from U.S. tariffs.

The appointment of a new Japanese prime minister next month

could also give the BOJ more reasons to go slow on its next rate

hike.

The market priced in a 59% chance of the BOJ raising rates

by 25 basis points to 0.75% by its policy meeting in December.