Asia report: Japanese stocks surge after election win for libertarian Takaichi

Japanese stocks staged massive gains, at the start of the week, following a surprise victory at the weekend by one former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's top lieutenants.

Tokyo, Japan

Source: Sharecast

Sanae Takaichi, who some described as a libertarian along the lines of Margaret Thatcher, came out on top in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's leadership vote, which will likely result in her becoming the country's next PM.

Japan's Nikkei-225 surged 4.75% to 47,994.76, while the broader Topix Index added 3.1% to 3,226.06.

That came alongside a 2.70% jump in the South Korean Kospi to reach 3,549.21.

Taiwan's Taiex meanwhile finished the day ahead by 1.45% to 26,761.06.

Australia's All Ordinaries was little changed, drifting lower by 0.09% to 9,280.02.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.67% to 26,957.77.

Yet if Japanese stocks rocketed upwards, the yen did the opposite, with the Greenback adding 1.98% to 150.39 Japanese yen.

Markets appeared somewhat concerned that Takaichi would pursue very expansive fiscal policies, but some analysts were saying that such concerns were overblown.

And as for the yen, they pointed out that Japan was already competitive versus the likes of China, such that its currency would not be allowed to weaken much further.

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