BANGKOK: Shares in Europe and Asia were mostly higher on Tuesday, with Japan's benchmark creeping closer to the symbolically important 50,000 level as conservative lawmaker Sanae Takaichi became the country's first female prime minister.

Germany's DAX edged 0.1 per cent lower to 24,228.07, while the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.1 per cent at 8,214.58. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.2 per cent to 9,422.48.

The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.1 per cent.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gave up earlier, bigger gains after Takaichi prevailed in a vote in Japan's parliament, rising just 0.3 per cent to 49,316.06. She is expected to support market-friendly policies such as low interest rates and more government spending.

The US dollar rose to 151.78 Japanese yen from

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