Japan Heads of Early Elections in December as Economy Struggles

Hiruki Nakamura
21 Nov, 2014
New York City

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolved Japanese parliament and set early snap election for the lower house in December. Finance Minister Taro Aso said the decline in yen this week had been too quick. The yen closed at the weakest level since August 2007.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolved Japanese parliament and set early snap election for the lower house in December. Finance Minister Taro Aso said the decline in yen this week had been too quick. The yen closed at the weakest level since August 2007.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo trading reversed decline in the final hour of the session as Japan heads for a snap election.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolved parliament and scheduled early election with the hope that a larger majority will help the new government to pass the delayed increase in sales tax.

Japan is in the grip of two-decade long economic stagnation as the export led economy struggles to revive domestic aggregate demand and industrial overcapacity.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average increased 56.65 or 0.3% to 17,357.51 and the broader Topix index rose 2.54 to 1,400.18. For the week, Nikkei 225 slipped 0.8%.

The yen closed rose 0.4% to close at 117.80 against one dollar.

Stocks in Review

Sega Sammy Holdings Inc gained 1.3% to 1,675 yen and South Korean casino operator Paradise Co Ltd started to develop casino resort including hotels, restaurants at Incheon, Seoul with total investment of US$1.7 billion.

The casino resort project consist 160 gaming tables and 340 slot machines and 750 hotel rooms. The development is scheduled to open in 2017.

Sojitz Corp closed unchanged at 171 yen after the diversified trading company and India-based Larsen & Toubro Ltd jointly won a contract for railway electrification work in India worth 50 billion yen.