SINGAPORE — Stocks in Asia-Pacific traded higher on Monday morning as investors in the region reacted to Democrat Joe Biden’s defeat of incumbent Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential race, according to NBC projections.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 jumped 2.04% while the Topix index added 1.42%. South Korea’s Kospi also rose 1.44%.
Mainland Chinese stocks also rose in early trade, with the Shanghai composite up 1.1% and the Shenzhen component gained 1.473%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 1.34%. China’s exports surged 11.4% in October as compared to a year earlier, according to official statistics released over the weekend.
Shares in Australia were also higher, with the S&P/ASX 200 gaining 1.57%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 1.08% higher.
Former U.S. vice president Biden won following his projected win in the states of Pennsylvania as well as Nevada, according to NBC News projections on Saturday. Still, Trump is refusing to concede the election, claiming it’s “far from over.”
Meanwhile, on the coronavirus front, infections continue to surge stateside. The U.S. recently reported more than 126,000 new infections for two day in a row. Globally, the number of coronavirus infections crossed the 50 million mark on Sunday, according to Reuters.
Oil prices jump; yuan strengthens
Oil prices were higher in the morning of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 2.71% to $40.52 per barrel. U.S. crude futures jumped 2.83% to $38.19 per barrel.
The onshore Chinese yuan strengthened to 6.5935 per dollar, after seeing levels above 6.65 last week. Meanwhile, its offshore counterpart changed hands at 6.582 against the greenback.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 92.172 following a decline in recent days from levels above 93.1.
The Japanese yen traded at 103.30 per dollar after strengthening from levels above 104.3 against the greenback last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7278 after last week’s rise from levels below $0.711.
Source: CNBC