The results in the 24th upper house election were finalized after the vote-counting was finished on Monday morning.
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LONDON, July 11 (Reuters) – Global stocks rallied on Monday as a combination of electoral success for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the emergence of a sole candidate to succeed David Cameron as British prime minister reduced political uncertainty even as markets looked forward to more stimulus from central banks.
In the U.S., the Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose to a record high and European equities gained for a third day after Mrs Andrea Leadsom withdrew her candidacy for the role of Britain’s prime minister and cleared the way for Home Secretary Theresa May, who is set to succeed Mr David Cameron.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he planned extra fiscal stimulus following his party’s victory in the Upper House election and numbers hover around 10-20 trillion yen for the proposed package.
Half the seats in parliament’s less powerful upper house are up for grabs, but there is no likelihood of a change of power.
Japanese stocks jumped again, leading gains in Asian markets Tuesday as investors remained hopeful about the prospects of more stimulus following a stronger-than-expected election victory by the country’s ruling coalition. The main liberal opposition party, the Democratic Party won 49 seats, falling from 60, while the Japanese Communist Party and Osaka Ishin no Kai increased their seat counts. Abe has promised new government spending to help aggressively jolt Asia’s second-biggest economy back to life. He declined to give details. The few years the opposition held power coincided with the 2011 quake, tsunami and nuclear triple-disasters that devastated northeastern Japan. The opposition fell out of favor after being heavily criticized for its feeble reconstruction efforts.
“Japan is a nation long of promises and short on delivery, so whether Abe is able to follow through on this pledge in an effective manner is another matter entirely and one which will ultimately determine whether the move on dollar-yen is sustained”, said Simon Smith, chief economist at FxPro in a note.
Abe told a parliamentary session in March that he was hoping to achieve a revision during his term, which expires in September 2018, but he hasn’t said specifically what change he would seek. Japan’s Topix index of stocks surged the most since February. The constitution has a clause that limits Japan’s well-equipped army, navy and air force to self-defense.
In Japan, war is banned.
However, a more militarily assertive China and North Korea’s continued nuclear development has made Japan’s people nervous about regional security.
Speaking late Sunday, Abe said the election was a vote of confidence in Abenomics, and downplayed the consitutional issue.
The initial public offering price for Line Corp.
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Exporters won support Monday as Japan’s currency sharply weakened, which is good for their profitability. He downplayed the constitutional question during the campaign, saying only that discussion was needed.
