Japanese stocks rallied and the yen weakened after a ruling-party vote positioned pro-stimulus lawmaker Sanae Takaichi to become Japan's next leader. Takaichi is set to become Japan's first female prime minister after winning the Liberal Democratic Party leadership contest Saturday. Investors had expected the seat to go to political scion Shinjiro Koizumi, who was seen as taking a more fiscally cautious view and leaving the Bank of Japan to press ahead with normalization. While Takaichi's appointment has lifted growth expectations, it has also raised concern over increasing bond supply while reducing chances of a BOJ rate hike this month.
Elsewhere, gold advanced above $3,900 an ounce to yet another record, extending a rally that's been a feature of commodity markets all year. Bitcoin also set another all-time high over the weekend. Oil advanced after OPEC+ agreed Sunday to revive just 137,000 barrels a day of halted supply — a slower pace than earlier this year. Equity-index futures for the US also rose in early Asian trading. For more, we turn to Paul Dobson, Bloomberg's Executive Editor for Asia Markets.
And for more reaction on Sanae Takaichi's win, we hard from Christopher LaFleur, Chairman at the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. He spoke to Bloomberg's Shery Ahn and Avril Hong on the Asia Trade.
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