China’s growing clout in the artificial intelligence space has sparked a wave of optimism toward the nation’s tech shares, with a gauge entering a bull market and brokers issuing upbeat calls.Listen to the Here’s Why podcast on Apple,

Asian shares Friday were mixed, with Chinese technology stocks rising as most other Asian equities declined.Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dipped nearly 0.72% in afternoon trading to 38,787.02. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid just 0.