Japan voted for the lower house of its parliament or National Diet, on October 27. Voting ensued on the island nation after the newly elected PM Shigeru Ishiba, who succeeded Fumio Kishida, called for a snap election to cement his power in the party and Japanese politics.
Ruling-LDP Set To Lose Majority
This move appeared to have backfired, as, according to latest reports, the Ishiba-led Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is set to lose its majority in the 465-seat lower house or House of Representatives.
The all-important Japanese markets, regarded as one of the most important on the continent, have reacted to this apparent instability in the potential governance of the 4th largest economy in the world.
Interestingly, the apparent uncertainty does not appear to have deterred the spirits of the market in the intraday trade on Monday, October 28.
The marquee indices were trading in green at the time of writing.
The Nikkei 225 index, which opened at 37,757.95, has maintained a steady progression through the intraday trade so far. The momentum continued post-lunch break as well.
Nikkei 225
The Nikkei index rose in value by 1.79 per cent or 679.57 points. This took the overall value of the index to 38,593.49 points.
This also comes after a week of relative decline, when the index lost its value in the previous 5 trading sessions.
TOPIX
When we look at the Topix Index, this benchmark index also saw a surge in its value. The Topix Index boosted its value to 2,658.23 after opening at 2,605.71.
This came to pass after a rise of 1.52 per cent or 39.91 points, in its value. A lot like Nikkei and other major Asian indices, Topix also had an underwhelming week.
The Japanese economy, according to many experts, has been relatively stagnant for the past 30 years, ever since the real estate bubble burst. This has resulted in a marginal rise in wages, failing to keep up with the rising cost of living over a period of time. Whether this political uncertainty brings about a change, positive or negative, in the Japanese realm is something that remains to be seen.
