Skeptics Question Abe Election Joy as Topix Hits Decade High
- ‘Will the current election make a difference?’ Allum asks
- It’s not like Abe had policy constraints beforehand, he says
Japan Heads to Election Polls This Weekend
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As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling party heads for what polls suggest will be its best national election result in more than three decades, Japan’s stock market has surged to heights not seen since before the financial crisis. Some investors and analysts are asking whether the optimism is overdone.
Jonathan Allum, a strategist at SMBC Nikko Capital Markets Ltd. in London, says he’s puzzled by the bullish view that a resounding Abe victory will revamp the premier’s program to revive the economy. In his opinion, nothing substantial will have changed: Abe will have the same ability to pursue his policy agenda as he had before the vote.