Asian Pacific indices advance on election news
Asian Pacific stock indices followed the risk-on tone from the US. South Korea’s Kospi added close to 2.7% after local election results boosted confidence in policy continuity.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Japan’s Nikkei posted gains of 0.6% and 0.8% respectively, while the Shanghai Composite ended 0.4% higher. The indices were buoyed by a sense that political developments could help stabilise domestic economic outlooks.
The underlying message was that, despite mixed regional data and lingering concerns over US-China relations, investors were willing to “buy the dip” as confidence rose following a positive start for risk assets this month.