The largest gain in years for the Japanese stock market
The Japanese stock market and in particular the Nikkei 225, rebounded very strongly this morning. The index is up by 7.7 %, the broader index Topix is up by 6.4 %.
Yesterday, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was re-elected, confirming that he would stay in charge until 2018. PM Abe reassured the markets with a series of announcement reiterating the economy will be his primary focus moving forward. This comes after a wide wave of protest in the country following a miss-steps by the government and in particular by PM Abe.
The cabinet confirmed that a follow-through with a corporate tax cut, should follow. It is government’s intention to reduce the present tax rate of about 35 % to about 25 % in the coming 5 years. On the top of this announcement, the Consumer Confidence Index came out stronger than expected, at 41.7 vs. 40.3.