Nikkei 225 Index Surges as PM Suga Bows Out in the Election

On Friday, the Nikkei 225 index jumped after the Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga bowed out in the upcoming leadership election.

On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei 225 increased 2.05% or 584.60 points to $29,128.11 per share.

Japan’s surging COVID-19 cases fired criticisms to the leadership of Prime Minister Suga. 

In addition, his public support declined when the city held the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games even under a state of emergency.

Analysts noted that the spurred gains in the index reflected the positive outlook of investors to new governance.

Moreover, the market participants expect that a change in the position could strengthen the country’s coronavirus measures and economic recovery. 

Accordingly, Japan’s broader TOPIX index also inched up to 1.61% or 31.88 points to $2,015.45 per share. 

Meanwhile,  China’s stock market edged lower as the services sector tumbled into a sharp contraction in August.

The Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers’ Index plummeted to 46.70 from 54.90 in July. 

The data showed that activity in the services sector slumped as measures to curb the Delta variant cases derailed the economic recovery. 

Consequently, the Shanghai Composite index declined 0.43% or 15.31 points to $3,581.73 per share.

Likewise, the Shenzhen Component Index dipped 0.68% or 97.47 points to $14,179.86 per share.

Also, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged down 0.72% or 188.44 points to $25,901.99 per share.

Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares plummeted to 3.00% as the tech giant invests $15.50 billion for common prosperity by 2025. 

Meanwhile, South Korea’s KOSPI soared 0.79% or 25.21 points to $3,201.06 per share. 

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 jumped  0.50% or 37.20 points to $7,522.90 per share. 

US Stocks Rise as Tokyo Stocks Surge

Moreover, US stocks also extended their gains as Tokyo stocks surged. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.37% or 131.29 points to $35,443.82 per share.

Similarly, the benchmark S&P 500 improved 0.28% or 12.86 points to $4,536.95 per share. 

Also, the Nasdaq Composite Index inched up to 0.14% or 21.80 points to $15,331.18 per share. 

Moreover, Apple Inc. increased 0.75% or 1.14 points to $153.65 per share. 

Likewise, Netflix Inc. rose 1.11% or 6.48 points to $588.55 per share. 

Meanwhile, Facebook Inc. declined 1.77% or 6.77 points to $375.28 per share.

This is the same with Alphabet Inc. Class A which plummeted 1.33% or 38.57 points to $2,865.74.