Singapore

IT was a sea of blue in the Asia-Pacific financial markets on Monday, with Australia's ASX200 smashing through chart resistance, Japan's Nikkei 225 soaring to its highest levels in almost three decades, and the oil price climbing as investors looked forward to a Joe Biden White House after four tumultuous years under the Donald Trump administration, with his Twitter-happy populist rhetoric.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index led the way with a rise of more than 2 per cent as traders in Asia-Pacific got the first chance to give their verdict on the Biden victory. Australia's ASX200 broke the 6,200 ceiling to end 1.75 per cent up, at 6,298 - the highest level seen since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.