Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will announce his resignation by the end of next month, Japanese media reported on Wednesday, following a bruising election defeat that cost his administration its upper house majority.

TOKYO -- With Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba facing growing pressure to resign after Sunday's upper house election, potential candidates for the post are starting to position themselves for the next leadership race, in which opposition parties would play a major role.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was facing growing pressure to resign on Wednesday after his coalition lost its majority in the upper house election over the weekend, local media reported. Ishiba's long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior partner Komeito now form a minority government,

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s ruling coalition has lost its majority in the upper house of parliament.

The news of Ishiba’s resignation came hours after Japan secured a trade deal with the US that cut a threatened 25-per-cent tariff to 15 per cent ahead of an August 1 deadline

Embattled Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has decided to disclose his plans to step down by August given the results of the upper house election, according to the Mainichi newspaper.

World markets are mixed after U.S. stock indexes hit new records. Oil prices fell and U.S. futures were little changed.

The yen climbed across the board on Monday after beleaguered Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba vowed to hang on as leader even though his ruling coalitionlost its majority in Sunday's upper house elections,