Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party sealed a new coalition deal that sets up Sanae Takaichi to become the country's first female prime minister. LDP President Takaichi and Hirofumi Yoshimura, co-leader of the Japan Innovation Party, also known as Ishin, signed the coalition agreement on Monday evening. Combined, the LDP and Ishin hold 231 seats in the lower house of parliament. While that is two seats shy of a majority, divisions between opposition parties mean Takaichi is almost certain to win a parliamentary vote on Tuesday to decide the prime minister. We get perspective from Sheila Smith, Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow for Asia Pacific Studies. She spoke to Bloomberg's Shery Ahn and Avril Hong. Plus - Wall Street traders drove stocks higher amid solid signals from Corporate America and hopes that tensions between the world's two largest economies are cooling. Bond yields edged lower. With the earnings season well underway, about 85% of the companies in the S&P 500 reporting results so far have beaten profit estimates. That's helped fuel a rebound in equities, with the benchmark notching its best two-day gain since June. Sentiment was also buoyed by expectations the trade war will de-escalate as the US and China return to the negotiating table. We heard from Carol Schleif, Chief Market Strategist at BMO Private Wealth.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related