Tokyo: Stocks soar 6%, continuing global rally

[TOKYO] Tokyo stocks soared six percent in opening trade on Thursday after diving the previous day on Donald Trump's shock win in the US presidential election, as global stocks and the dollar rallied.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which plummeted 5.4 per cent on Wednesday, shot up six per cent, or 975.74 points, to 17,227.28 in the first minutes of trade.

The US dollar was trading at 105.88 yen early Thursday, sharply up from the 102-yen range seen when the Tokyo market closed with heavy losses on Wednesday.

Wall Street stocks surged following Mr Trump's upset win over Hillary Clinton, with pharmaceutical and banking shares especially strong in anticipation of favourable policies.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.4 per cent to 18,589.69. European stocks also closed higher.

"Donald Trump's presidential win will no doubt be at the centre of investors' minds today with many pondering whether the incumbent president's bite will be as extreme as his bark," said Rodrigo Catril, currency strategist at National Australia Bank.

"While a Clinton presidency was seen as providing a sense of predictability and stability, a Trump presidency is likely to bring uncertainty at least over the near term with the big question being to what extent Trump's pre-election rhetoric can or will translate into policy action next year," he said in a note.

AFP