Stocks in Asia-Pacific jumped on Monday as investors in the region reacted to Democrat Joe Biden’s defeat of incumbent Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential race.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo leaped 514.61 points, or 2.1%, to 24,839.94. The Japanese yen traded at 103.52 per U.S. dollar after strengthening from levels above 104.3 against the greenback last week.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index ballooned 303.2 points, or 1.2%, to 26,016.17.
In Japan, shares of conglomerate Softbank Group surged 5.37%. South Korea’s Kakao Games gained 1.7%.
Chinese tech firms in listed in Hong Kong also saw gains. As of their final hour of trading on Monday, shares of Chinese tech giant Tencent added 1.4% while Alibaba gained 2.8%.
China’s largest chipmaker SMIC, which has come under scrutiny by the Trump administration, saw its Hong Kong-listed stock rise 2.28%. ZTE also saw a sharp rise as it gained 4.51%.
Taiwan-listed shares of Apple-supplier Pegatron bucked the overall trend as they fell 2.09%. The moves came as Bloomberg reported that the Cupertino-based tech juggernaut has suspended new business with Pegatron after discovering labour violations.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7286 after last week’s rise from levels below $0.711.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 gained 95.63 points, or 2%, to 4,981.35.
China’s exports surged 11.4% in October as compared to a year earlier, according to official statistics released over the weekend.
The onshore Chinese yuan strengthened to 6.5727 per U.S. dollar, after seeing levels above 6.65 last week. Meanwhile, its offshore counterpart changed hands at 6.5559 against the greenback.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi index gathered 30.7 points, or 1.3%, to 2,447.20.
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index popped 153.94 points, or 1.2%, to 13,127.47.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index moved higher 30.68 points, or 1.2%, to 2,609.36
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 hiked 225.18 points, or 1.8%, to 12,562.20
In Australia, the ASX 200 spiked 108.62 points, or 1.8%, to 6,298.80.
