Japan’s shares rose thanks to Suga’s resignation

Shares in Japan increased on September 3 after Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced he will not be running in the upcoming leadership election.

In afternoon trade, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.97%. Meanwhile, the Topix index advanced 1.62%. Japanese manufacturing stocks witnessed substantial gains. Fanuc surged 3.16%, while JFE Holdings grew 6.31%.

The safe-haven currency, the Japanese yen, traded at 110.01 against the dollar. It is still stronger than levels about 110.4 seen versus the dollar earlier this week.

As we know, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has been under fire for his approach to the coronavirus situation in Japan. Remarkably, it included the hosting of the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games while the city was under a state of emergency. 

According to Hiromichi Shirakawa, chief economist for Japan at Credit Suisse, the cabinet approval rate has come down a lot and the Japanese people’s confidence has become much weaker.

Shirakawa announced that the next Japanese prime minister’s job is to restore the confidence of fairly exhausted people rather than coming up with a concrete economic fiscal policy.

Mainland Chinese stocks declined. The Shanghai Composite fell 0.34% to settle at 3,581.73 while the Shenzhen component declined by 0.472% to 14,179.86.

The official non-manufacturing PMI for August fell for the first time since 2020

Remarkably, the Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers’ Index was at 46.7, against July’s reading of 54.9. In the previous week, the official non-manufacturing PMI for August declined in the sector for the first time since early 2020.

Meanwhile, PMI readings above 50 show expansion, while those below that level present contraction. Remarkably, PMI readings represent month-on-month expansion or contractions.

Additionally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined by 0.67% to settle at 25,901.91. Hong Kong-listed shares of Alibaba dipped by more than 3%. The decline came after reports that the company is set to invest 100 billion yuan by 2025 for common prosperity.

Kospi in South Korea soared 0.67% to 3,201.06. Meanwhile, Australian S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.45% to reach 7,522.9.

Moreover, MSCI’s largest index of Asia-Pacific shares, excluding Japan, surged 0.1%.

Furthermore, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 131.29 points to settle at 35,443.82. Additionally, the S&P 500 gained 0.28% to 4,536.95. The Nasdaq Composite surged 0.14% to hit 15,331.18.

Those gains on Wall Street came as the market is waiting for the U.S. employment report for August. It is set for release Friday.

Oil prices were lower in Asia. Remarkably, international benchmark Brent crude futures declined fractionally to $72.98 per barrel. Meanwhile, U.S. crude futures slipped 0.16% to $69.88 per barrel.

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