(Updated with closing levels, more details and comments)

By Brigid Riley

TOKYO, March 4 (Reuters) - Japan's main stock benchmarkbreached 40,000 points for the first time to end Monday at arecord closing high, as corporate governance reform and solidvaluations continue to pave the way for long-term globalinvestor interest.

As technology shares jumped, tracking their U.S.counterparts, the Nikkei share average finished the dayup 0.5% at 40,109.23.

After five consecutive weeks of gains, the index smashedthrough the fresh intraday peak of 39,990.23 hit on Friday androse as high as 40,314.64 before momentum eased in the afternoonsession.

While there may be short-term moves as the market heats up,"I think the market will continue to rise," said MasahiroIchikawa, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS AssetManagement.

Overseas investors have been leading the buying, and manyseem to be investing from a medium- to long-term perspective, hesaid.

Some analysts estimate Japanese equities could rise furtherthis year on the back of long-term changes in company behaviour,with one forecast calling for as high as 43,000 points,according to a Reuters poll published on Feb. 22. The median2024 year-end forecast for the Nikkei was 39,000.

While foreign interest has helped to fuel the Nikkei's rapidrise, some see the continued rally as a gradual turning pointfor domestic retail investors, who have largely given Japan'sstocks the cold shoulder.

Purchases of Japan-focused exchange-traded funds thatqualify for local tax breaks have surged lately, said Wei Li,portfolio manager at BNP Paribas Asset Management.

"The strong performance of the Japanese market compared toglobal peers is expected to encourage individual investors toallocate more to their home market over time."

On Monday, Japanese tech shares got a kick from the ongoingartificial intelligence rally in U.S. stocks that saw the S&P500 and Nasdaq to record highs on Friday.

Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest ( ADTTF ), whichcounts U.S. artificial intelligence firm Nvidia ( NVDA ) amongits customers, was up 3.7%. Chip-making equipment giant TokyoElectron ( TOELF ) gained 2.4%.

The shares in those two companies added a combined 160 indexpoints to the Nikkei's 198-point rise.

Japan-based semiconductor manufacturer Renesas Electronics ( RNECF )came out the top performer of the day, up 4.9%.

JSR Corp ( JSCPF ), a major maker of photoresists used inchipmaking, jumped 4.8% after a media report that state-backedfund Japan Investment Corp (JIC) plans to launch a tender offerfor the shares this month.

The broader Topix ended down 0.1% at 2,706.28.