With markets rushing to price 'worst case' scenarios earlier this month, including the chance of a leadership hiatus just as next week's August 1 tariff deadline hits, the outcome was seen as something of a relief. Even though pressure remains on Ishiba, his pledge to remain as PM offers at least some focus for any last minute trade negotiations.
Japanese markets were closed for a holiday and global currency markets offered the only clear sign of a reaction. The yen, which had hit a three-month low of 149.18 per dollar last week, firmed to just under 147.7 after the results. That dragged the dollar down across the board.
The other big movers first thing have been in global bond markets, where U.S. Treasury yields and European equivalents - perhaps in some read-across to Japanese investor flows - fell notably.
Treasury yields fell across the curve to 10-day lows - after rallying last week on a combination of benign producer price and inflation expectations readings as well as comments from Federal Reserve board dove Christopher Waller that he's still in favor of resuming interest rate cuts as soon as this month.
Waller said on Friday he would accept the job as head of the U.S. central bank if asked by President Donald Trump, but so far Trump had not contacted him about it.
With the Fed outlook now confused by persistent White House pressure on Chair Jerome Powell and the outside chance that Trump attempts to fire him before his term expires next year, last week's incoming price data has offered some comfort.
Fed futures reflect a near 70% chance of another Fed cut by September.
But the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had counseled Trump not to fire Powell, given the financial disruption that might cause.
Trump, who sued the WSJ and its owners including Rupert Murdoch for at least $10 billion on Friday over the newspaper's report on a 2003 birthday greeting from Trump to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, denied the latest WSJ report on Bessent too.
Stock markets were steady to higher across the world, with Wall Street stock futures up ahead Monday's bell.
Helping the mood, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Sunday he was confident that Washington can secure a trade deal with the European Union, but August 1 is a hard deadline for tariffs to kick in. Lutnick said he had just gotten off the phone with European trade negotiators and there was "plenty of room" for agreement.
Meantime, China's foreign ministry said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.
The corporate earnings season unfolds during the week, meantime, with Tesla and Alphabet - two underperforming megacaps this year - reporting on Wednesday.
In Europe, Ryanair surged more than 6% as Europe's largest low-cost carrier's net profit more than doubled in its April-June quarter.
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