TOKYO — Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 2.4 percent on Monday, retaking the 70,000 line during the session for the first time since early July, as a weaker U.S. jobs report cooled bets on a Federal Reserve rate increase and buyers returned to semiconductor and artificial-intelligence shares.

The index was at 69,946.86 in late afternoon trading, up 1,637.40 points, or 2.40 percent. It opened up 1.18 percent, or 804.28 yen, at 69,113.74, then extended the gain. By midmorning it was up about 2.5 percent and above 70,000. At 10:37 a.m. it stood at 70,024.27, up 1,714.81 points. The morning session ended at 70,037.61, up 1,728.15 yen, or 2.53 percent. The intraday high was about 70,072. The broader Topix rose about 1.1 percent, to 4,136.61, at midmorning. The afternoon trade near 69,947 left the index just under the round number it had cleared earlier.

The trigger was Friday's........

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