Abenomics

Abenomics: Expect SGX stocks with exposure in Japan to take a positive lift again today, after voters handed Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a thumping victory in upper house elections on Sunday, likely ushering in a new period of stability for politically volatile Japan. The projected victory means both chambers will be under govt control, unblocking the bottleneck that has hampered legislation for the last six short-term premiers. That will strengthen Abe's hand as he tries to push through painful, but necessary, structural reforms aimed at dragging Japan out of two decades of economic malaise. Abe's Liberal Democratic Party won 65 of the 121 seats being contested, with its junior partner New Komeito securing 11, Kyodo News reported. The country's main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, won just 17 seats. Since romping to power in December's vote for the more powerful lower house, the hard-charging Abe has unleashed a wave of spending and pressured the central bank to flood the market with easy money. The moves - the first two "arrows" of a project dubbed "Abenomics" - sent the yen plunging, to the delight of exporters, and the stock market soaring. This, coupled with some feel-good figures on GDP growth, powered 60% plus public approval ratings for the prime minister, whose disastrous first turn in the top job, till Sept07, has paled in the public mind. The third arrow of Abe's policy programme remains hazy, but will include corporate tax breaks, special business zones, plans to boost the number of women in the workplace and Japan's participation in a mooted free trade area that encircles the Pacific. Notable SGX stocks with exposure in Japan includes GLP, Saizen REIT, P-Life REIT.