November 14, 2014
Michael Hunter

The yen neared its weakest level in seven years on Thursday and Tokyo’s stock indices once more outperformed their Asian peers with the prospect of a snap election continuing to hold sway over the country’s markets.

Speculation that Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, could seek to confirm his mandate for extended stimulus and delay a second scheduled increase in consumption tax set for next October continued to dominate sentiment.

Three of the biggest domestic newspapers have reported this week that the prime minister was considering a lower-house election on December 14 or 21, citing senior members of the government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

On Wednesday, the Reuters news agency quoted a senior official, Tadamori Oshima, as saying: “It looks like Shinzo Abe has finally made up his mind and it’s fair to consider that he decided to go to the people.”

Source
Financial Times