Asian stock markets rise on Obama's election
HONG KONG -- Asian stock markets rose Wednesday, tracking solid overnight gains on Wall Street, as uncertainty about the next leader of the world's largest economy was lifted with Democrat Barack Obama's elevation to the U.S. presidency.
Many investors were hopeful that the new president would focus renewed energy on tackling deteriorating economic conditions in America — a vital export market for Asian goods — that have dragged on growth around the world.
The relief that came with the end of the U.S. election was an added boost to sentiment, which has improved on the belief that, as the credit crunch eases, world equities markets could see a year-end rally after October's brutal sell-off.
Obama's win "is an excuse for the market to rally. There's less political uncertainty and that gives investors more confidence in the short term," said Frank Gong, a Hong Kong-based managing director for JP Morgan Securities. "But technically it's more about the credit crisis settling down and the market's fear coming down."
Some analysts said the next administration would be hard pressed to deliver a quick fix to the many U.S. economic woes.
"Changing the president is not going to be enough to save the American economy," said Kazuo Mizuno, chief economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co. in Tokyo.
He said the U.S. is likely to need financing from Japan, China, the Middle East and other countries if it hopes to fund public bailouts for its financial system and deliver on tax breaks and other measures needed for recovery.
"Even the president is not going to be able to change America without help from the world," Mizuno said.
Most markets across Asia markets rose. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average advanced 4.5% to 9,521.24, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged 5.2% to 15,126.69.
Australia's index rose 2.9%, and Singapore's key stock measure added 4.4%. India's market fell 1.9%.
The upswing followed Wall Street, where many investors looked past more signs of a slumping U.S. economy and piled into stocks.
