SINGAPORE – Asia Pacific stocks were higher on Thursday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an all-time high overnight despite the unrest in Washington.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.6% to close at 27,490.13 while the Topix index rose 1.68% to end its trading session at 1,826.30. At the start of the session, the Nikkei shot to 27,624.73, surpassing the recent 52-week intraday high of around 27,600 on December 29 – a level not seen since August 1990.
South Korea’s Kospi rose 2.14% to close at 3,031.68.
Mainland China stocks rose on the day, with the Shanghai Composite up 0.71% to 3,576.20 and the Shenzhen Component up 1.111% to 15,356.40. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index underperformed the region’s major markets as it fell 0.52% to close at 27,548.52.
Shares in Australia rose, with the S&P / ASX 200 rising 1.59% to close at 6,712. According to statistics released Thursday by the country’s Bureau of Statistics, Australian goods and services exports rose 3% month-on-month in seasonally adjusted November.
The broadest MSCI index for stocks in the Asia-Pacific region outside Japan rose 0.62%.
China’s telecommunications stocks are falling
Hong Kong-listed Chinese telecommunications company stocks fell after the New York Stock Exchange reversed its decision to delist the companies. Trading in the three securities will cease on Monday at 4:00 p.m. ET, the exchange said.
By Thursday’s close of trading in Hong Kong, China Mobile’s shares in the city were down 7.18%, while China Unicom was down 11.35% and China Telecom was down 9.38%.
These developments came after days of uncertainty after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to prevent American firms and individuals from investing in companies the government claimed to have helped the Chinese military.
Rioters storm US Capitol
On Wall Street overnight, the Dow rose 437.80 points to close at a record high of 30,829.40. The S&P 500 rose 0.57% to end its trading day at 3,748.14 while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 12,740.79, up 0.61%.
The moves in the US came amid investor optimism about the prospect of additional fiscal stimulus and coronavirus relief as Democrats stand ready to take control of the Senate.
NBC News predicted Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff would defeat Republicans Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in two Georgia runoffs. Those wins split the upper chamber 50-50, and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris became the tiebreaker vote to give the party control of the Senate.
However, this news has been largely overshadowed by the chaos in Washington. Pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol and caused Congress to suspend the process to confirm the election of Joe Biden as president. Still, the markets were largely untouched by the chaos.
The Capitol was finally secured late Wednesday afternoon and Congress resumed the process of counting the votes and confirming the victory of President-elect Joe Biden.
“For the first time in 10 years, the Democrats appear to be in control of the House, Senate and White House, but the process was halted by an unprecedented invasion of Capitol Hill during the vote,” said Kathy Lien, executive director of foreign exchange strategy at BK Asset Management, wrote in a note on Wednesday.
“Beyond the protests, a unified government has a significant impact on US politics and the economy,” Lien said.
Currencies and oil
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of its peers, closed at 89.64 after a previous low of 89.321.
The Japanese yen was trading at 103.41 per dollar yesterday after trading below 102.8 against the greenback. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7776 after rising below $ 0.77 this week.
Oil prices were higher in the afternoon of Asia’s trading hours. The international benchmark’s Brent crude oil futures rose 0.7% to $ 54.68 a barrel. US crude oil futures rose 0.87% to $ 51.07 a barrel.
– CNBC’s Amanda Macias and Dan Mangan contributed to this report.
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