Japanese shares hit record high as Sanae Takaichi wins landslide election victory

The Liberal Democratic party won 316 of the 465 seats in the lower house, the first time a single party has secured a two‑thirds majority since parliament was established in 1947. Its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation party, added 36 seats, producing a supermajority of 352 and easing the legislative path for Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister, who called a snap election in January.

Markets reacted quickly on Monday: Japanese stocks rose while bonds fell and the yen recovered some ground. The Nikkei climbed to a record, surpassing the 56,000 level at the start of trading, briefly pushed through 57,000 and closed up 3.9% at 56,363. In the region, South Korea’s Kospi rose 4.4%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.8% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was 1.9% higher.

The yen initially slipped 0.3% against the dollar before strengthening as much as 0.7%, and was last trading about 0.5% firmer at 156.43 per dollar. Takaichi has said she will pursue a 21tn yen stimulus package and suspend the 8% sales tax on food for two years.

Japan

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