
Asian Indices Rise; Nikkei Surges as Abe Declares Victory in Upper-House Elections
Asian stocks rose on Monday, boosted by Friday's strong jobs numbers in the U.S. and a victory for the coalition led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Sunday elections for the upper house of the Japanese parliament.
The Nikkei 225 soared 3.98% to 15,708.82, while the Topix rose 3.79% to 1,255.79
Abe's coalition increased its majority in the upper house, which should allow him to push through reforms, including the revisions to Japan's pacifist constitution.
Japanese stocks were also boosted by a falling yen, which slid after the Financial Times reported that former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke visited the Bank of Japan. The Japanese central bank is widely expected to embark on another round of monetary easing, possibly at its meeting on July 28 and July 29.
Among the main movers in Tokyo Nintendo (NTDOY) rose 24.5% after its newly released Pokemon Go smartphone game topped the U.S. iTunes charts
Meanwhile, local WhatsApp rival Line priced its IPO at a top-of-the-range ¥3,300, meaning it will raise ¥116 billion ($1.14 billion) when it lists in Tokyo and New York.
One dollar recently bought ¥101.81, a rise of 1.26% for the U.S. currency.
In Hong Kong the Hang Seng was up 1.47% at 20,866.06, the CSI 300 index rose 0.89% to 3,220.81.
S&P 500 mini futures were up 0.35%.
The Japanese 10-year government bond yield was up 1 basis point at minus 0.28%.
The yield on the Australian 10-year bond rose 2 basis points to 1.90%.
Brent crude was recently down 0.77% a barrel at $46.40
Spot gold was down 0.25% at $1,362.90 an ounce. Silver was up 1.51% at $20.41 an ounce.
The Asian gains followed a strong performance by U.S. equities markets on Friday after non-farm payroll numbers came in at an unexpectedly high 287,000, more than 100,000 above consensus expectations.









