Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has expressed his intention on Sunday to step down following growing calls from his party to take responsibility for a historic defeat in July's parliamentary election.

Shigeru Ishiba's resignation ushers in a potentially lengthy period of policy uncertainty at a shaky moment for the world's fourth-largest economy.

"I don't think we can say that the resignation is a complete surprise as it's been mooted for some time, but the timing of the announcement is certainly unexpected. As for the mar