BEIJING (AP) – Asian stocks were higher Tuesday following strong Wall Street gains as investors focused on the final hours of a tight U.S. presidential race.
KEEPING SCORE: The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.6 percent to 3,152.52 points and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.4 percent to 22,883.42. Seoul’s Kospi added 0.2 percent to 2000.97 and India’s Sensex rose 0.2 percent to 27,514. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was nearly unchanged at 17,173.72 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 held steady at 5,253.30. Benchmarks in New Zealand, Taiwan and Southeast Asia also rose.
WALL STREET: The U.S. stock market rebounded from a nine-day losing streak to post its biggest gain in eight months. Financial stocks led the rally, which erased more than half of the losses racked up by the Standard & Poor’s 500 index since October 25. The Dow gained 371.32 points, or 2.1 percent, to 18,259.60. The S&P 500 index rose 46.34 points, or 2.2 percent, to 2,131.52. The Nasdaq composite index added 119.80 points, or 2.4 percent, to 5,166.17.
PRESIDENTIAL JITTERS: Hillary Clinton appeared to gain an edge over rival Donald Trump but analysts said the race was too close to call and traders hedged their positions. Clinton’s position improved after the FBI announced its review of newly discovered Clinton emails found no evidence to warrant charges. Unease had ratcheted up in recent weeks over signs the race was tightening. Clinton is seen as more favorable to trade while Trump has unnerved markets by calling for controls on imports and immigration. That triggered the longest losing streak for the S&P 500 since 1980.
ANALYST’S TAKE: “Markets are moving toward pricing in a Clinton victory, but not fully, given the painful lesson from Brexit,” Mizuho Bank said in a report. “We expect market volatility to increase somewhat tomorrow as U.S. exit polls and elections results start streaming in.”