Tokyo stock indexes fell sharply today amid Japan’s announced snap parliamentary elections after Shigeru Ishiba took over as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party late last week. The books became cheaper also due to appreciation of the yen, which negatively affected the exporting companies, reported Reuters.
The broader Topix index fell 95.00 points, or 3.47 percent, to 2,645.94.
Ishiba, who is set to become Japan’s next prime minister, expressed support for the Bank of Japan’s efforts to normalize monetary policy and may consider raising the capital gains tax.
The dollar traded at 142.52-53 yen, compared with 142.15-25 yen in New York and 143.18-21 yen in Tokyo on Friday.
The euro traded at $1.1158-1162 and 159.02-09 yen versus $1.1160-1170 and 158.72-82 yen in New York and $1.1132-1133 and 159.40-44 yen in Tokyo .
On Wall Street, trading ended mixed, but the Dow Jones managed to achieve a record high at the close of the session on Friday, Reuters reported. This came amid growing expectations for further cuts in US interest rates following earlier this month when the Federal Reserve cut key rates by 0.5 percentage points.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 137.89 points, or 0.33 percent, to 42,313.00.
The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 lost 7.20 points, or 0.13 percent, to 5,738.17.
The technological Nasdaq lost 70.70 points or 0.39 percent to 18,119.59 points.
