TOKYO :Japan’s Nikkei share gauge closed at a record high on Tuesday, led by consumer stocks, after fiscal dove Sanae Takaichi clinched a parliamentary vote to become the nation’s first woman prime minister.
Earlier in the day, the share gauge rose as much as 1.55 per cent, but gave up most of its gains in choppy trade after Japan’s two houses of parliament confirmed Takaichi as premier.
The Nikkei 225 Index closed 0.3 per cent higher at an unprecedented 49,316.06. The broader Topix pared early gains to settle near the flatline. Japanese government bonds rallied and the yen weakened.
As Takaichi campaigned for and won the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party earlier this month, the so-called “Takaichi trade” emerged that was bullish on equities and bearish for long-term bonds and the yen. But her ascent to the prime minister’s seat was delayed after long-time political partner Komeito split from the coalition.
In the previous session, the Nikkei soared after the LDP secured a new partner in the Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin, to strengthen Takaichi’s support in the Diet.
The coalition will still be a minority in government, which may limit the scope of their fiscal plans, according to Mizuho Securities senior market economist Yusuke Matsuo.
“We think the administration will be compelled to take a pragmatic approach to economic policy and do not expect the Takaichi trade to gain significant traction in the medium term,” Matsuo wrote in a note.
Takaichi received 237 votes in a lower house vote on Tuesday, topping the majority of the 465-seat chamber. Market attention now turns to who may fill out her cabinet for signs of how the new government will approach spending and debt management.
The new prime minister has finalised a plan to appoint former regional revitalisation minister, Satsuki Katayama, as finance minister, broadcaster FNN reported on Tuesday. Katayama, an upper house lawmaker and former finance ministry bureaucrat, told Reuters in March that Japan’s economic fundamentals suggest the yen’s real value is stronger than where it has traded of late.
There were 125 advancers on the Nikkei index against 99 decliners. The largest gainers were video game maker DeNA, which gained 6.6 per cent, followed by online fashion retailer ZOZO, up 4.1 per cent.
Prices for JGBs broadly rose, sending yields lower. The benchmark 10-year JGB yield fell 1 basis point (bp) to 1.655 per cent, and the five-year yield slid 2 bps to 1.22 per cent. The yen slid 0.4 per cent to 151.36 to the U.S. dollar.
Structural reforms and strategic investment under the new administration may come to define an updated version of the Takaichi trade, according to Naka Matsuzawa, chief macro strategist at Nomura Securities.
“The new Takaichi trade is more of a flattening of the yield curve and a stock market rally driven by the domestic demand stocks,” Matsuzawa said. “The stock market will probably lose momentum after investors realize that Takaichi is not as reflationary as they thought and the yen actually strengthens.”
