Japan's Nikkei 225 rose above 67,000 for the first time on Monday, as a surge in SoftBank Group turned the technology investor into the country's most valuable listed company and underlined the growing force of the artificial intelligence trade in Tokyo. The blue-chip gauge climbed as much as 1.4% to an intraday record of 67,231.28 before ending the midday session at 67,038.24, up 1.1%.