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

jumped more than 4% 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 Nikkei surged 4.7% to 64,781.35 by 0025 GMT in

its second straight session of gains, while the broader Topix

rose 1.4%.

Chip-testing equipment manufacturer Advantest ( ADTTF )

gained 18%, chip-making machinery maker Tokyo Electron ( TOELF )

climbed 9.3% and AI-focused startup investor SoftBank Group

climbed 15%.

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

tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 2.8%.

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 their 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.

(Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)