HONG KONG, Nov 5: Asian stocks rallied on Wednesday as investors welcomed the election of Barack Obama on hopes he will introduce a fresh stimulus to the economy and bring an end to the global financial crisis.

Markets took a lead from Wall Street’s overnight rise as Americans went to the polls for historic elections, which saw Democrat Obama becoming the first black US president.

Regional bourses opened higher and continued their runs to the end of the day, with Tokyo closing 4.46 per cent up and Hong Kong rising 3.2 percent.

Sydney ended 2.9 percent better off despite a grim economic warning from the government, which revised down its growth forecast to 2.0 per cent this financial year, from 2.75 per cent previously projected.

The Dow Jones added 3.28 percent on Tuesday as Americans went to the polls.

Investors were also anticipating further rate cuts by world central banks to try to thaw frozen credit markets.

The European Central Bank and the Bank of England are both widely expected to make cuts when they hold separate meetings on Thursday.

TOKYO: Japanese stocks rose 4.46 per cent.

The Nikkei index rose 406.64 points to finish at 9,521.24. The benchmark has ended in positive territory for five of the past six sessions, but is still down almost 38 percent in 2008.

The Topix index of all first section issues rose 56.21 points, or 6.17 percent, to 966.91.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong shares closed up 3.2 per cent.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index soared 455.82 points to 14,840.16, after trading between 14,750.04 and 15,317.83. Turnover was 63.37 billion Hong Kong dollars (8.12 billion US).

The index has risen 40 per cent from a four-and-a-half year trough of 10,676-point hit on October 27.

SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed up 2.9 per cent.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 rose 121.5 points to 4,336.6, while the broader All Ordinaries was up 117.5 points at 4,287.3.

A total of 1.66 billion shares worth 6.35 billion dollars (4.44 billion US dollars) was traded.

BHP gained 8.52 per cent to 31.60, Rio was up 8.64 per cent at 86.60 while gold miner Newcrest gained 8.96 per cent to 22.50.

ANZ gained 1.06 percent to 19.00, National Australia Bank was up 1.49 percent at 25.90, Westpac fell 3.41 per cent to 21.54 and Commonwealth Bank lost 1.91 per cent at 41.00.

SINGAPORE: Shares closed 2.14 per cent higher.

The main Straits Times Index rose 39.13 points to 1,868.82. Volume was 2.31 billion shares worth 1.63 billion Singapore dollars (1.1 billion US).

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp closed 21 cents higher at 5.28 dollars despite reporting Wednesday an annual 13 percent fall in third quarter net profit.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 1.1 per cent higher.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index inched up 9.66 points to close at 915.24.

IOI Corp added 5.8 percent at 3.30 ringgit and Tenaga Nasional added 1.6 per cent at 6.20 ringgit.

Maybulk lost two percent at 2.51 ringgit and Malaysia Airports was down 2.2 percent at 2.23 ringgit.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares ended 0.3 per cent lower.

The Jakarta Composite Index dropped 3.51 points to 1,366.27.

Top decliners included car distributor Astra, which shed 7.3 percent to 11,500 rupiah, and heavy equipment United Tractors, which lost 9.9 percent to 4,075. Telkom gained 4.6 percent to 4,650 rupiah.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 1.47 per cent higher.

The benchmark NZX-50 index rose 41.80 points to 2,886.11.

Telecom eased a cent to 2.36 dollars but Fletcher Building rose 40 cents to 6.24 and Contact Energy added four cents to 7.39.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances rose five cents to 1.55 and Auckland Airport rose two cents to 1.83.

MUMBAI: Indian shares fell 4.81 per cent.

The benchmark 30-share Sensex index fell 511.11 points to 10,120.01, snapping five consecutive days of gains.—AFP