Japanese Stocks Up Slightly, Yen Drops as Takaichi Becomes PM

Japanese stocks whipsawed to end slightly higher on Tuesday and the yen dropped as Sanae Takaichi became prime minister, opening the way for more fiscal spending.

Trade was choppy with the Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipping 0.1% at one point as some investors were quick to take profits from their earlier bets on her stimulus before ending just 0.3% higher. It rose as much as 1.6% earlier in the day but fell short of touching the psychologically important 50,000 level. The yen weakened 0.5% against the dollar in volatile trade.