PACIFIC RIM

Japanese Election Has Little Impact on Dollar: The dollar was little changed in early Asian trading after Japan’s election resulted in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party increasing the number of seats it has in Parliament. With all but one of the 500 seats left to be counted, the LDP had won 239 seats, up from 211 seats in the previous Parliament. The LDP led the previous three-party coalition government. “The bottom line is it looks like they’re [the LDP] going to get in, so it’s steady as she goes,” said Craig Donaldson, a dealer at Bankers Trust New Zealand. The dollar was recently quoted at 112.44 yen compared with 112.48 yen in New York on Friday.