Japanese Shares Extend Rally on Takaichi Boost
2026-02-10 00:42
By
Jam Kaimo Samonte
1 min. read
The Nikkei 225 Index rose 1.6% to above 57,200 while the broader Topix Index gained 1.4% to 3,836 on Tuesday, with Japanese shares scaling fresh record highs following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s decisive win in Sunday’s general election.
The landslide victory gave her a solid mandate to push for increased spending and tax cuts, renewing her pledge to suspend the 8% sales tax on food for two years on Monday.
Markets also gave her the benefit of the doubt after she said the stimulus measures would not further strain Japan’s public finances.
Technology and AI-related stocks led the advance, tracking gains on Wall Street.
Notable outperformers included Fujikura, up 8%, Kioxia Holdings, up 2.1%, SoftBank Group, up 6.9%, Tokyo Electron, up 2.7%, and Disco Corp, up 2.4%.
Heavyweight defense, financial and consumer stocks also posted solid gains on optimism over higher defense spending and a broader lift to economic activity.