World markets surge as Japan's Nikkei soars post-election triumph | AP News
BANGKOK (AP) -- Global markets witnessed a surge on Monday, with Tokyo's Nikkei 225 share index skyrocketing up to 5% to a record high following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's governing party securing a two-thirds supermajority in a parliamentary election.
In early European trading, key indices like Germany's DAX, Paris' CAC 40, and Britain's FTSE 100 all saw positive gains, with the DAX rising 0.6% to 24,864.59, the CAC 40 up 0.2% at 8,288.06, and the FTSE 100 gaining 0.3% to 10,399.61.
U.S. futures mirrored this upward trend, with the S&P 500 futures adding 0.1% and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures up 0.2%. This followed a robust U.S. stock market recovery on Friday, where technology stocks rebounded, and Bitcoin stabilized after a weekslong plunge.
The S&P 500 rallied 2%, its best day since May, while the Dow soared 2.5%, breaking the 50,000 mark for the first time. The Nasdaq Composite leaped 2.2%, driven by a tech-stock rebound and Wall Street's rally.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo closed 3.9% higher at 56,363.94, with an intraday peak of 57,337.07, marking a significant milestone.
The dollar weakened against the yen, trading at 156.71 yen, down from 157.10 yen on Friday.
The election victory grants Takaichi a stronger mandate for market-friendly policies, as his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) secured 316 seats, surpassing the 261-seat majority in the 465-member lower house. This is a record since the party's inception in 1955, surpassing the previous record of 300 seats in 1986.
Neil Newman, managing director at Astris Advisory Japan, noted the LDP's transformation from a weak government to a powerful one, capable of influencing policy.
Takaichi's priority is to address budget and economic challenges, including rising costs and sluggish wages, when the lower house reconvenes in mid-February.
Market analysts, like Stephen Innes from SPI Asset Management, view the election result positively, emphasizing the removal of political ambiguity, which traders value.
Other Asian markets mirrored the positive sentiment, with Seoul's Kospi, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, and Shanghai Composite all rallying.
In Seoul, the Kospi gained 4.1%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 1.8%, and Shanghai Composite rose 1.4%. Taiwan's Taiex added 2%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 surged 1.9%.
Wall Street's rally was driven by gains in computer chip companies, with Nvidia up 7.8% and Broadcom climbing 7.1%. However, concerns about AI's impact on software companies and Big Tech spending weighed on the market.
Bitcoin rebounded 1% to trade near $70,000, recovering from a weekslong plunge that saw it fall to near $60,000.
Metals markets stabilized after wild swings, with gold up 1.4% at $5048.90 per ounce and silver adding 6.2% to $81.64.
U.S. crude oil prices dropped 60 cents to $62.95 per barrel, while Brent crude fell 60 cents to $67.45 per barrel.
The euro strengthened to $1.1866 from $1.1814.
AP videojournalist Mayuko Ono in Tokyo contributed to this report.
