TOKYO (AP) – Asian stocks rose Monday as the yen weakened amid political uncertainty after Japan’s ruling.
TOKYO (AP) — Asian stocks rose Monday as the yen weakened amid political uncertainty after Japan’s ruling party lost its majority in the lower house of parliament in weekend elections.
In currency trading, the dollar rose from 152.24 yen to 153.76 yen. Last month, it was trading in the 140 yen range. The euro fell from $1.0803 to $1.0796.
The weaker yen is a boon for Japan’s export giants like Toyota Motor Corp., whose shares rose 3.7% in Tokyo trading. Nintendo rose 2.6% and Sony rose nearly 2.0%.
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party remains the largest party, but several members lost re-election in Sunday’s vote following an unreported campaign finance scandal.
Overall, the ruling coalition with junior partner Komeito won 215 seats, according to Japanese media, a significant decrease from the previous majority of 279 seats. Although no change of government is expected, the Liberal Democratic Party may need a third coalition partner.
Tokyo stocks rose. Analysts say the ruling party’s defeat was highly anticipated and priced into the market.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.6% in morning trading to 38,527.52 yen. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index rose nearly 0.1% to 8,217.80. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.6% to 2,598.73. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.1% to 20,614.74, and the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.3% to 3,310.63.
On Wall Street, U.S. stock indexes finished mixed last week, marking the market’s first down week since early September.
The S&P 500 ended little changed after rising 0.9% earlier in the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%, its first weekly decline after six straight gains. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6%.
Corporate earnings reports have been mostly solid and remain a key focus for investors. More than one-third of S&P 500 index companies have reported their latest quarterly results. Most of the results exceeded analysts’ expectations. Companies around the world are expected to report their financial results in the coming weeks.
U.S. Treasury yields ended last week generally higher. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury rose to 4.24% on Friday from 4.21% late Thursday.
Yields generally rose on reports that the U.S. economy remained stronger than expected. Wall Street is expected to release further updates on consumer confidence, employment and inflation next week.
The Fed has raised its benchmark interest rate to a 20-year high in an effort to bring inflation back to 2% without sending the economy into recession.
A major report on U.S. consumer spending, known as the PCE, will be released later this week. Analysts expect it to show that inflation has fallen to 2%. The central bank began cutting interest rates in September, and economists expect another cut at its November meeting.
Russia’s central bank raised its key interest rate by 2 percentage points on Friday to a record high of 21%. The Russian government is trying to counter rising inflation caused by military spending after the invasion of Ukraine.
In energy trading, benchmark US crude oil fell $3.19 to $68.59 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard crude, fell $3.25 to $72.80 per barrel.
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AP Business Writers Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga contributed to this report.
Yuri Kageyama appears on X: https://x.com/yurikageyama
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