Asian Markets End Up on Bush News, Nasdaq
By Clarence Fernandez Nov 27 4:16am ET
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Key Asian markets ended higher on Monday, spurred by last week's rebound in the tech-laden U.S. Nasdaq index and investors' views prospects had brightened for a conclusion to the drawn-out contest for the U.S. presidency.
The dollar showed muted reaction to news Republican George W. Bush had been certified winner of Florida by 537 votes in the U.S. election. It edged lower in Tokyo afternoon trade but held above 111 yen on firm bids from foreign operators.
Yen buying against the euro from exporters put pressure on dollar/yen. The euro stood at 93.45/59 yen.
Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei average closed up 2.83 percent at 14,720.39 on blistering gains in some high-tech shares after a hefty Nasdaq rebound and the signs taken as indicating the U.S. presidential race might be near an end.
Most market players said that while fundamentals justified more buying, stocks were tied to movements in the Nasdaq.
The Nasdaq ended Friday up 5.4 percent at 2,904.2, and the Dow Jones Industrials rose 0.7 percent at 10,470.2.
``I think there's still a bunch of high-tech issues with low valuations and we should see more buying, particularly in smaller shares in the over-the-counter market,'' said Hitoshi Kadokura, fund manager at Partners Asset Management in Tokyo.
Most market players were fixated on the near-term impact of an end to the post-election confusion in the United States.
``(Democrat) Al Gore says he's fighting on so there's still a bit of uncertainty, but it does look like Bush is the winner and we should see more investors coming back to the market,'' said Hidenori Kawasaki, head of equities at Kokusai Securities.
A Bush victory is seen boosting the market because he is expected to be more pro-business than Gore.
Court challenges by both parties mean it could be days or even weeks before a final election result. However, Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures rose 8.6 points to 1,355 after Bush made a speech aimed at convincing Americans his election was a fait accompli, following the Florida declaration.
European shares looked set to advance in early dealings with U.S. stock index futures signaling further gains for the tech-rich Nasdaq composite in particular.
Trading in Europe's bourses has been slowed by 19 days of election uncertainty and legal wrangling over the results by the two candidates.
``The market will be encouraged that one of them has stood up and claimed the presidency and there should be a day or two of partying for the markets,'' said one senior equity salesman.
``But very soon people will go back to worrying about macro issues, about credit, interest rates and about what's going to happen in the first half of next year, and about the savage reversals we've seen in new economy stocks,'' he said.
``And then at the end of the week we come into December and volumes will start to really tail off,'' said the salesman.
South Korea's Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed up 4.4 percent at 554.04, led by Samsung Electronics after its main memory chip prices firmed up, easing worries about slowing earnings.
``Samsung Electronics passed the psychologically important 180,000 won level today relatively easily on higher memory prices, boosting sentiment of the market,'' said Kim In-soo, a senior analyst at Shinyoung Securities.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 1.7 percent at 14,615.5 by 0732 GMT, as investors switched out of China-based telecoms companies into Hong Kong-based property and bank stocks.
Mainland China's two biggest cellular phone companies, China Mobile and China Unicom, were down 0.5 percent and 3.6 percent respectively.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index ended up 0.7 percent at 3,303.2, as the banking sector drew investors, media giant News Corp rose more than four percent, and resources group BHP benefited from news of a planned mine expansion.
Taiwan's benchmark TAIEX ended up 0.25 percent at 5,433.8 after a see-saw session with boosts from banking stocks and microchip shares, but a weak outlook for the economy was expected to keep it locked in range trading over the near term.
Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 0.01 percent to 1,984.6 by 0730 GMT, as shares drifted in lacklustre trade.
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