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By Kevin Buckland TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese stocks surged more than 5% to an all-time high while the yen skidded on Monday after fiscal and monetary dove Sanae Takaichi was elected as leader of the ruling party, putting her on course to become the nation's first female prime minister. Gold climbed to a record peak close to $4,000, while leading cryptocurrency bitcoin rallied to a lifetime high on Sunday, with investors increasingly turning to alternative assets as a store of value as the U.S. government shutdown frayed nerves. Japan's Nikkei soared above 48,000 for the first time ever after Takaichi bested the more moderate Shinjiro Koizumi in the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership vote on Saturday, stoking expectations for fiscal stimulus. The yen slumped as much as 2% to beyond 150 per U.S. dollar for the first time since August 1, and slid as much as 1.8% to an all-time low versus the euro at 176.25. Worries about Japan's finances sent the yield on 30-year government bonds to an all-time high. At the same time, short-dated Japanese government bond yields slid to a two-week low as traders pared bets on when the Bank of Japan will resume raising interest rates. Market-implied odds of a BOJ hike by year-end fell to 41% from 68% on Friday. A year ago, Takaichi criticized the BOJ's decision to raise rates as "stupid", although her recent rhetoric has been more restrained, saying only that central bank policy should be aligned with the government. "We believe concerns among some investors that the next administration might pursue extreme fiscal expansion or exert political pressure on the BOJ are overblown," Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities economists wrote in a research report, noting that Takaichi's stance "appears closely aligned" with BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda's "cautious approach" to policy normalization. Most other major share markets around the region were closed for holidays, including mainland China, South Korea and Taiwan. Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.7%, ahead of a holiday on Tuesday. Australia's benchmark eased 0.1%, though trading was thinned by holidays in several states including New South Wales and Queensland. U.S. S&P 500 futures pointed 0.3% higher, after the cash index rose to a record high on Friday. Pan-European STOXX 50 futures were flat, with stocks perched at record highs. The U.S. dollar made up some ground on European currencies, capitalizing on its momentum against the yen to rebound from last week's 0.5% decline against a basket of major peers. The euro lost 0.26% to $1.1714, and sterling slipped 0.22% to $1.3440. Gold last changed hands around $3,927 after advancing as much as 1.5% earlier to a record just above $3,944. Bitcoin traded around $123,600 following its jump to $125,653.32 on Sunday. "The shutdown matters this time around," said Geoffrey Kendrick, head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered Bank. "This year, bitcoin has traded with 'U.S. government risks,' as best shown by its relationship to (the) U.S. Treasury term premium," he added. "I suspect bitcoin will rise throughout the shutdown," and will soon reach $135,000, Kendrick predicted. Oil prices rose after OPEC+ announced on Sunday it would increase production by 137,000 barrels per day (bpd) from November, the same modest monthly increase as in October, amid persistent concerns over a looming supply glut. In the run-up to the meeting, sources said Russia was advocating for an output increase of 137,000 bpd to avoid pressuring prices, but Saudi Arabia would have preferred double, triple or even quadruple that figure to regain market share more quickly. Brent crude futures gained 1.3% to $65.36 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $61.69, also a 1.3% advance. (Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Sam Holmes)

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By Tassilo Hummel and Mimosa Spencer PARIS (Reuters) -Gucci's "see now, buy now" approach for the first collection from new designer Demna, harnessing a buzz around the brand to draw shoppers back to its stores after years of lackluster sales, is showing some early success, data shows. Demna stole the show at Milan Fashion Week last month, dropping images of his first-ever Gucci collection on social media a day before the official debut in the style of a star-studded film premiere, an unusual move. The day after the celebrity-packed event, Gucci again broke with industry conventions, making the new products from the Milan show immediately available in ten flagship stores until October 12.  Big luxury houses usually stick to a rigid calendar of fashion shows months before clothes hit the shops. But Gucci's fast-track approach is showing some early improvements in store traffic in the United States, foot-traffic data compiled by Placer.ai and provided to Reuters by Colliers, shows. At the Rodeo Drive store in Los Angeles, one of the boutiques stocked with the new products, traffic rose steadily in each of the four days following the Milan show on September 23, with weekly store visits up 53% from the previous week, the data showed. At Gucci's Wooster Street store in New York weekly traffic was up 19%. Country-wide store visits in the U.S. reached their highest level in three weeks the weekend after the Demna launch, the data showed. Gucci-owner Kering and Gucci declined to comment when asked about shopper appetite for the Demna collection.     DEMNA'S NEW DESIGNS KEY TO REVITALISING GUCCI BRAND The success of the new collection from Demna, who only uses one name, would be a major step towards reviving the struggling Gucci brand, which makes up a majority of sales and profit at French conglomerate Kering. Kering CEO Luca de Meo and Gucci's boss Francesca Bellettini, both recent appointments, are under pressure to reverse Gucci's two-year sales decline. Gucci's revenue plummeted 25% year-on-year in the last reported quarter. Store traffic further slowed this year, Bellettini, then Kering's deputy CEO, said in July. Gucci's new fashion show-to-store move is unusual in the business and has only been used occasionally, mostly by smaller labels including Jacquemus and Burberry. But Gucci's instant commercial test makes sense, said Laure Anne Chansel, who teaches fashion marketing at the EIML business school in Paris. "What is the story the brand has told lately? There isn't much." Gucci needs to bank on the window of newfound attention after a period of flux following the previous designer's departure in February, Chansel said, referring to Sabato de Sarno.  LUXURY LABELS FIGHT TO WOO BACK SHOPPERS On Paris's Avenue Montaigne, one of three boutiques selling the collection in Europe, sales assistants last week said they had not seen such interest in months.  "I ended up being there longer than I thought,” said Gayle Deifel, a tourist from California, adding that she was surprised to discover Demna's new collection, including fur coats, a gold dress and new editions of Bamboo and Jackie handbags, already in the store. She bought a pair of leather boots. The new collection, which will be rolled out more broadly in January, also hints at the brand's commercial approach as it seeks to attract younger and less wealthy shoppers who turned away from luxury spending due to economic uncertainty. The luxury industry, which is in a downturn, needs to win back these customers who were put off when companies aggressively raised prices to focus on the super-wealthy. Gucci's new styles seen so far could widen the label's appeal, said luxury consultant LinLi Teh, a former buyer for London department store Liberty. “I think he's hitting the angles of all the Gucci customers over the past decades,” she said, referring to Demna, who comes from Georgia.  In the Paris store, the brand displayed a downsized and less expensive version of its classic Jackie bag near the checkout. At just under 2,000 euros ($2,347.00), the price is well below 3,200 euros for other Gucci styles. NEW DESIGNERS SEEK TO GRAB THE SPOTLIGHT Demna has taken the reins at Gucci amid an industry-wide reshuffle, with new designers also at Chanel, Dior and Loewe — all seeking to make their mark. Gucci's deep-pocketed rivals are staging elaborate events and campaigns, with LVMH recently creating a Louis Vuitton boutique shaped like an ocean liner in downtown Shanghai. Heavily-indebted Kering, meanwhile, is under pressure to balance marketing investments with a cost-cutting drive.  In China, Demna's Milan fashion week debut was broadcast at a VIP event with local celebrities in Beijing. This spurred a brief spike in online attention that faded within two days, said Alexis Bonhomme, who runs the luxury consulting firm Trinity Asia.  "The campaign has increased the talkability, but conversion into sales remains to be demonstrated," he said.  ($1 = 0.8522 euros) (Reporting by Tassilo Hummel and Mimosa Spencer, editing by Lisa Jucca and Jane Merriman)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)