Japan Heads for Post-Election Chaos as Leading Parties Struggle to Win Voter's Attention

Akira Ito
24 Oct, 2024
Tokyo

Investors remained cautious in Tokyo ahead of the general election this Sunday, and the yen hovered near a three-month low. 

The Nikkei 225 stock average and the broader Topix index lacked direction and traded around the flatline amid uncertainty about the outcome of the national election. 

The Liberal Democratic Party is struggling to win voters' attention, and the party may struggle to return to power for the first time in several years. 

465 seats are up for grabs in Japan's lower house election, and the latest poll suggest that the ruling LDP party may lack enough seats to win outright majority. 

LDP may lose its majority of 247 seats, and polls suggest that the corruption-tainted party may win as few as 199 seats. 

The election uncertainty and the possible chaos in the aftermath are keeping foreign investors on the sidelines. 

On the economic front, Japan's private sector activities contracted for the first time in four months in October. 

The Au Jibun Japan Manufacturing PMI eased to 49.0 in October from 49.7 in September, and the services index slipped to 49.3 from 53.1, respectively. 

The service industry index contracted for the first time in four months and fell to the lowest level since February 2022 as domestic and international customers held orders amid economic weakness. 

 

Japan Stock Movers 

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average increased 0.3% to 38,195.56, and the broader Topix index added 0.03% to 2,637.77.

The yen traded at 152.22 against the U.S. dollar ahead of election uncertainty, as leading parties are likely to have enough votes to form the next government. 

Tokyo Electron increased 1.2% to ¥23,025.0, Advantest gained 2.3% to ¥8,053.0, and Lasertec Corp. jumped 2% to ¥21,460.0. 

Marubeni Corp. declined 0.8% to ¥2,338.0, Mitsui & Company decreased 0.2% to ¥3,100.0, and Itochu Corp. fell 0.6% to ¥7,554.0. 

Konica Minolta advanced for the second day in a row and jumped 5.2% to ¥561.20, IHI Corp. added 2.6% to ¥7,750.0, and the video game arcade operator Bandai Namco increased 3.3% to ¥3,197.0.