
Asian markets are mixed and Japan's shares slip after election leaves Ishiba's future in doubt
Japan's benchmark surged and then fell back as it reopened from a holiday Monday following the ruling coalition's loss of its upper house majority in Sunday's election.
The Nikkei 225 shed 0.3% to 39,694.89.
Analysts said the market initially climbed as investors were relieved that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba vowed to stay in office despite the setback. But the election's outcome has added to political uncertainty and left his government without the heft needed to push through legislation.
A breakthrough in trade talks with the U.S. might win Ishiba a reprieve, but so far there's been scant sign of progress in negotiating away the threat of higher tariffs on Japan's exports to the U.S. beginning Aug. 1.
'Relief may be fleeting. Ishiba's claim to leadership now rests on political duct tape, and history isn't on his side. The last three LDP leaders who lost the upper house didn't last two months,' Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.3% to 25,057.11, while the Shanghai Composite index also was up 0.3%, at 3,568.78.
South Korea's Kospi sank 1.4% to 3,165.40, with investors concerned over the Aug. 1 deadline for making a deal with U.S. President Donald Trump or facing 25% tariffs on all the country's exports to the U.S.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was little changed at 8,666.30.
India's Sensex gained 0.3%, while the SET in Thailand was up less than 0.1%.
Many of Trump's stiff proposed tariffs are paused after he extended the deadline for talks to allow more time to reach potential trade deals that could lower those rates. Aug. 1 is the next big deadline, at least for now.
U.S. stock indexes inched their way to more records on Monday to kick off a week full of profit updates from big U.S. companies.
General Motors will report its latest profit results later this week, along with such market heavyweights as Alphabet, Coca-Cola and Tesla.
The S&P 500 rose 0.1% to 6,305.60 and squeaked past its prior all-time high set on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down less than 0.1% to 44,323.07.
The Nasdaq composite added 0.4% to its own record, closing at 20,974.17.
Verizon Communications helped lead the way and rose 4%. The telecom giant reported a stronger profit and higher revenue for the latest quarter than expected and raised its forecasts for the full year.
That helped offset a 5.4% drop for Sarepta Therapeutics, which continued to fall after the Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that it asked the company to voluntarily stop all shipments of Elevidys, its gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, due to safety concerns.
Block, Jack Dorsey's company behind Square, Cash App and other tech brands climbed 7.6% in its first trading after learning it will join the widely followed and imitated S&P 500 index. It will take the place of Hess, which Chevron bought, before trading begins on Wednesday.
Cleveland-Cliffs rallied 12.4% after the steel producer reported a smaller loss for the spring than analysts expected. It shipped a record 4.3 million net tons of steel during the quarter, and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said the company has begun to see 'the positive impact that tariffs have on domestic manufacturing' and other things.
It's a major supplier to the auto industry, and Trump's tariffs steer companies hoping to sell cars in the United States toward steel made in the country.
In other dealings early Tuesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 71 cents to $65.24 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 69 cents to $68.52 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar rose to 147.62 Japanese yen from 147.38 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1691 from $1.1696.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Winnipeg Free Press
18 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Seven & i pushes back against Couche-Tard's reasons for deal talks ending
The parent company of 7-Eleven has pushed back against the reasons Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. gave for why a takeover deal never materialized. Couche-Tard said last week that it was ending a yearlong effort to buy Seven & i Holdings Co. Ltd., saying there had been no sincere or constructive engagement from the Japan-based company over a potential deal. Seven & i's special board committee said in a letter issued Tuesday that Couche-Tard made 'highly misleading' claims as it ended its efforts, and that Seven & i consistently engaged in good faith. It says that from the start, Couche-Tard didn't take competition concerns seriously, and didn't present a credible plan as to how those concerns would be addressed. Given the scale of the two convenience store chains, Seven & i noted that regulators would likely require they make a 'very significant divestiture' before approving a deal, but Couche-Tard was not able to provide a plan on who could be the buyer or how such a deal would work. Seven & i also pushed back against the characterization that its governance was not up to the task, and suggested that Couche-Tard perhaps did not properly understand the Japanese market. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2025. Companies in this story: (TSX:ATD)


Winnipeg Free Press
18 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
EU and Japan agree to work together to promote free trade and economic security
TOKYO (AP) — Leaders of the European Union and Japan launched an alliance Wednesday aimed at boosting economic cooperation, defending free trade and countering unfair trade practices as the two sides face growing challenges from the United States and China. The agreement followed a meeting among European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. It comes just as Tokyo and Washington reached a new trade deal, which places 15% tariffs on Japanese cars and other goods imported into the U.S., down from an initial 25%. The leaders agreed to launch 'competitiveness alliance' aimed at stepping up trade, economic security and cooperation in innovation, energy and other areas, according to a joint statement released by the EU. The leaders also supported 'a stable and predictable rules-based free and fair economic order,' and reaffirmed the importance of Japan-EU cooperation to uphold multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core, as well as with other multilateral cooperation efforts. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. The EU and Japan also agreed to strengthen defense industry cooperation and to start talks on an information security agreement. Japan and the EU have been stepping up their security and defense cooperation amid growing global tensions and conflicts, including Russia's war on Ukraine, conflicts in the Middle East and increasingly assertive China's military activity in Asia, recognizing that challenges in Europe and Indo-Pacific are inseparable.


CTV News
18 minutes ago
- CTV News
Krispy Kreme, GoPro and Beyond Meat surge as the latest meme stock revival rolls on
The Krispy Kreme logo appears above its trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, May 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File) NEW YORK — As the stock market pushes into record territory and some companies trade at lofty levels, investors are once again looking for bargains among some of Wall Street's beaten down companies. The latest so-called meme stocks include doughnut maker Krispy Kreme, camera maker GoPro and plant-based meat maker Beyond Meat. Each company is surging Wednesday. The gains follow sharp jumps recently for department store Kohl's and the online-based real estate company Opendoor Technologies. The companies have been mostly struggling to notch profits. Wall Street defines a meme stock as a stock that gains significant popularity and trading volume, primarily driven by social media hype and online communities, rather than the company's fundamental financial performance. Think GameStop and Blackberry in 2021, and a few subsequent instances. Often, meme stocks are initially the target of 'short sellers,' or investors betting against the stock. If other investors start buying the shares and boost the price, that could prompt the people betting against the stock to buy more shares to cushion their own losses. Sugar rush Krispy Kreme jumped 25 per cent on Wednesday, adding to its 26.7 per cent gain a day earlier. The company has seen several years of falling profits and revenue. Wall Street expects it to post a loss for 2025. During its last earnings update, the company pulled its financial forecast for the year as it reassesses its partnership with McDonald's. Shaky frame GoPro jumped 60 per cent on Wednesday to follow its 41 per cent gain on Tuesday. The company last posted an annual profit in 2022 and revenue has been sliding for several years as it faces more competition in a market for smartphone cameras that it once dominated. Wall Street is forecasting that the company will eke out a slight profit in 2025. 'Beefy' gains Beyond Meat gained 10 per cent on Wednesday and is now up more than 30 per cent for the week. The company has been struggling for years and has yet to notch an annual profit since going public in in 2019. The company warned in its latest earnings update that it is 'experiencing an elevated level of uncertainty' and it pulled its financial forecasts for 2025. Losing momentum Investors who buy now are betting that the momentum will continue, but it can shift suddenly. Kohl's, which operates 1,600 stores across the country, reversed course on Wednesday and slipped about nine per cent, although it is still up about 36 per cent this week. It is wrestling with a number of challenges including a revolving door of CEOs and weak sales. Opendoor Technologies shares also faded, falling 21 per cent and to give back most of this week's gains. The stock nearly tripled last week. The stock's recent gains came as hedge fund manager Eric Jackson touted the stock on X. Opendoor faces a tough housing market, with soaring interest rates and a low supply of homes making purchases and sales difficult for both homebuyers and homeowners. Meme stock history The original meme stock is video game retailer GameStop. In 2021, the company was struggling to survive amid the switch from discs to digital downloads and major investors were betting against the company. Investor Keith Gill, better known as 'Roaring Kitty,' rallied other investors to join him in buying up thousands of GameStop shares, changing the trajectory of the stock. GameStop had been trading under US$5 heading into 2021. The stock is trading around $24.50 on Wednesday. The initial meme stock craze eventually fizzled out. But the frenzy occasionally reignites, as seen the past few years with sudden gains for BlackBerry, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and Chewy. It took just four weeks in 2021 for GameStop's stock to go from less than $5 to more than $120. But it has yet to touch that price again. Blackberry quickly jumped from less than $7 to nearly $30 in early 2021, but the gains were shaky and trimmed back within a year. It is now trading at about $4. ___ AP Business Writer Anne D'Innocenzio contributed to this report. Damian J. Troise, The Associated Press