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London: World markets surged higher on Tuesday as the uncertainty about who will be the next US president neared an end and a leading US investment bank told its
clients in Europe to buy stocks after the savaging they have taken in the last few weeks.
The Dow Jones index of leading US shares was up 256.47 points or 2.81 per cent, at 9,576.30 even though investors know the next president will have his work cut out to
improve the US's immediate economic prospects and that Inauguration Day is still more than two months away.
Britain's FTSE 100 index closed 196.22 points, or 4.4 per cent, higher at 4,639.50, while Germany's DAX was up 251.20 points, or 5 per cent, at 5,278.04. France's CAC-40
was 163.12 points, or 4.6 per cent, higher at 3,691.09.
Most Asian stock indexes were more or less flat earlier, apart from Japan's Nikkei, which surged 537.62 points, or 6.3 per cent, at 9,114.60 as the market played catch-up after being closed Monday, when most of Asia rose.
The rise in risk appetite, evidenced in Tuesday's stock market rally, took its toll on the dollar, which plunged 3 per cent against the euro, which is now trading at $1.3012.
"It's very much a case that we are seeing risk aversion subsiding and the US presidential election has probably added to a process already underway," said Ian Stannard, an analyst at BNP Paribas.
Australia's financial stocks improved after the Reserve Bank of Australia slashed rates for the third time in as many months, reducing its cash rate by a larger than anticipated 0.75 percentage points to 5.25 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.3 per cent to 14,384.34. South Korea's Kospi rose 2.2 per cent, while benchmarks in Singapore and Shanghai fell.
In mainland China, the market dropped for a third day, led by mining and metals stocks.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.8 per cent to 1,706.7.
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