Abe election win fails to prompt fresh Japan rally

Japanese investors have reacted with muted enthusiasm to a sweeping election victory by Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party.

Abe's party and its smaller partner took at least 74 of the 121 seats contested in the upper house of Parliament yesterday, according to projections, giving the PM the go-ahead for further economic reforms. But the reaction to a potential new phase in 'Abenomics' was relatively cool, the Nikkei closing up 0.5% at 14,658. The index had initially risen by as much as 1%, but gains were pared after a strengthening yen had an impact on export-focused stocks. Market activity elsewhere in the region was also muted, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng flat at 21,362. But mining stocks jumped in...