The font entrance of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) in Tokyo, Japan, on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024.
Noriko Hayashi | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose in choppy trading on Thursday after former President Donald Trump won the White House, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
NBC News projects that Trump will win at least 291 Electoral College votes, including key swing states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was the only major index in negative territory, losing 0.43% and closing at 39,381.41, but the broad based Topix was up 1% to 2,743.08.
The yen weakened to a intraday high of 154.7 against the dollar on Wednesday, its weakest level since July 30, but recovered on Thursday to 153.81.
In choppy trading, mainland China’s CSI 300 led gains in Asia, closing 3.02% higher at 4,145.7, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 2% as of its final hour of trade. China reported October exports data that sharply beat market expectations.
Chinaese state media reported that the National People’s Congress standing committee, the country’s parliament, had reviewed the plan to raise local government debt for another day, after initially discussing the plan on Monday.
Local authorities in China have historically been responsible for much of public services spending, but have struggled financially as revenue from land sales to developers has dropped.
South Korea’s Kospi rose marginally to 2,564.63, but the small-cap Kosdaq lost 1.32% to end at 733.52.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.33% higher, ending at 8,226.3.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major benchmarks hit record highs following Trump’s victory.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1,508.05 points, or 3.57%, to a record close of 43,729.93. The last time the index saw a gain of more than 1,000 points in a single day was in November 2022.
The S&P 500 also hit an all-time high, popping 2.53% to 5,929.04. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.95% to a record 18,983.47.
— CNBC’s Yun Li and Jesse Pound contributed to this report.
