Asian stocks rose sharply in early trade today, with Japan's benchmark advancing almost 3 per cent, as sentiment turned upbeat after US markets soared on Election Day.
Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average climbed 2.9 per cent to 9,377.53, and South Korea's Kospi advanced 3.2 per cent to 1,190.03. Markets in Singapore, Australia, Shanghai and New Zealand also traded higher.
The upswing followed Wall Street, where investors brushed off more signs of a slumping US economy and piled into stocks.
Global investors also were looking forward to the end of political uncertainty created by the US election and hopeful that Senator Barack Obama would focus on boosting the American economy -- a vital Asian export market -- should he win the presidency.
"We are definitely upbeat now about the market direction. I think investors and funds will be coming in and buying aggressively until the end of year," said Alex Tang, head of research at Core Pacific-Yamaichi in Hong Kong.
"I think investors also are hoping that Obama can make a number of changes to help the economy," he added.
In New York, the Dow Jones index staged its biggest Election Day rally ever, rising 305.45 points, or 3.28 per cent, to close at 9,625.28. The broader indices also rose, with the Standard & Poor's 500 index up 39.45, or 4.08 per cent, to 1,005.75, its first close over the 1,000 mark since October 13.
Wall Street futures were lower, suggesting US markets would slide at the open.
