Optimism for New Biden Administration Drives Asian Markets Higher

Asian markets experienced a post-Inauguration Day bump Thursday due to optimism over new U.S. President Joe Biden’s plan to push his $1.9 trillion pandemic economic rescue plan through Congress.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index closed 0.8% higher. The S&P/ASX index in Australia earned 0.7%. Shanghai’s Composite index gained over 1%. Seoul’s KOSPI index was up 1.4%, and Taiwan’s TSEC index rose 2.2%.

In late afternoon trading, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index is down 0.2%, while Mumbai’s Sensex is up 0.7%.

In commodities trading, gold is unchanged in percentage terms (+0.06%), selling at $1,867.70. U.S. crude oil is also unchanged (+0.08%), selling at $53.28 per barrel, while Brent crude is selling at $55.91 per barrel, down 0.3%.