Japan's Nikkei Stock Average Rises Sharply After Takaichi's Election Win

By Kosaku Narioka

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose to a record intraday high after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's landslide election win boosted expectations that she will pursue drastic fiscal changes to strengthen Japan's economy.

The Nikkei Stock Average was recently 5.1% higher at 57039.04, after hitting an all-time intraday high of 57337.07 earlier on Monday.

Electronics, semiconductor and industrial stocks are leading the gains. Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest is up 12%, SoftBank Group is 7.7% higher and industrial giant Hitachi Ltd. is up 6.9%.

Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, were on track to win at least two-thirds of the lower-house seats in Japan's parliament, according to initial results and projections by public broadcaster NHK.

The prime minister plans to step up defense and industrial spending, with a focus on artificial intelligence and nuclear fusion technology, among other things. She has also pledged to lower the ratio of government debt relative to the country's gross domestic product.

The 10-year Japanese government bond yield was up 4.5 basis points at 2.275%. The Japanese yen strengthened against the dollar, most recently trading at 156.86 to the greenback, compared with 157.21 late Friday in New York.

Write to Kosaku Narioka at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-08-26 2005ET