Asian markets rocket higher on the back of massive US rally

Asian stocks booked large gains today on the back of strong offshore leads. There was plenty of green as the MSCI Asia Pacific index added […]


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By :  ,  Financial Analyst

Asian stocks booked large gains today on the back of strong offshore leads. There was plenty of green as the MSCI Asia Pacific index added 3.5% in early afternoon Tokyo trading. S&P500 index futures were pointing to another good night, last up around 0.2% which is much less than last night’s gains but still in positive territory. Around nine shares were up for each that declined.

In individual markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 2.4%, South Korea’s Kospi Index gained an impressive 4.1% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surged a massive 5.9%. The

Shanghai Composite Index was around 3% higher at the time of writing, on course for its biggest increase since May 2010, despite Chinese PMI data showing more weakness in industrial output last month. The purchasing managers’ index compiled by the Chinese Federation of Logistics and Purchasing slid to 49 in November, lower than market expectations and the weakest performance since the global downturn in 2009.

A separate PMI released by HSBC and Markit Economics slid to read at 47.7, also at its lowest level since March 2009.

In regional currencies, the Korean Won traded 1,127.15 against the dollar, continuing a fourth day of gains. The Australian dollar looks comfortable above the 1.02 range against the U.S. dollar but has fallen slightly below that level during the session. At least parity now looks safe.

All eyes will be on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s move when it next meets on 6 December. The euro also continues to build on its recent gains, now trading at around 1.3450 against the dollar with an intra-day high of 1.3473 being hit during the Asian session.

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