TOKYO, May 14 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average

rose for a third day on Thursday to hit a record high, riding a

wave of technology sector enthusiasm that overshadowed a slump

in the broader market.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index was up 0.37% at

63,507.09 after touching an unprecedented 63,799.32 earlier in

the day. The broader Topix slid 0.47% to 3,901.25.

Tech shares helped Wall Street indexes notch record closing

levels overnight. And as the earnings season in Japan winds to a

close, Topix-listed companies are set to post nearly 6% growth

in net profit, an SMBC Nikko Securities tally showed on

Wednesday, driven in part by artificial intelligence-linked

demand.

"Technology, semiconductor, and electronic component-related

stocks are leading the Japanese stock market today," said Wataru

Akiyama, an equities strategist at Nomura Securities.

"Looking at the performance of individual stocks today,

there are still quite a few being sold off due to negative

earnings, so investor caution is warranted."

SoftBank Group, an AI investor that has been a big

contributor to gains in the Nikkei this year, said on Wednesday

that its net profit more than tripled in the January-March

quarter. Even so, the company's shares slid 2.6%.

There were 96 advancers on the Nikkei index against 129

decliners. The largest percentage gainers in the index were

Tokai Carbon ( TKCBF ), up 15%, followed by Rohm Co ( ROHCF ),

which jumped 13.8%.

The largest losers were Mitsubishi Materials ( MIMTF ), down

11.3%, followed by Dai Nippon Printing ( DNPCF ), which slid

10.8%.

(Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)