Japan’s Nikkei returned above 70,000 on Tuesday for the first time since early July, while the 30-year government bond yield reached a record as investors weighed Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s fiscal stance.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose on Tuesday and moved back above 70,000, a level AP said it had not held since early July. AP’s later reading put the index up 1.1 percent at 70,683.98. An earlier AP dispatch had a 0.5 percent gain to 70,321.83, showing the move built through the session.
Reuters also had the Nikkei up 1.1 percent, alongside a 0.7 percent rise in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng. Technology names were uneven: AP said Advantest gained 3.9 percent while SoftBank Group fell 3.1 percent after chief executive Masayoshi Son warned of potential dangers related to the technology.
Bond investors were less relaxed. The Economic Times, citing the morning session, reported that Japanese government bond yields climbed and the 30-year yield hit a record as markets assessed Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s expansionary fiscal policies ahead of a 10-year auction.
The same reports said traders were waiting on a speech by Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda. Lower crude offered some support to equities, but AP and Reuters both noted oil still near $100 a barrel and US-Iran tensions still high.
The split between a firmer equity benchmark and a record long-bond yield leaves the next 10-year auction as the immediate test of how far investors will fund the fiscal turn.