HONG KONG: 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 percent 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 percent this financial year, from 2.75 percent previously projected.

Seoul also rose 2.4 percent and Shanghai jumped 3.16 percent, while Singapore added 2.14 percent.

However, Taipei slipped 0.29 percent mainly on bargain hunting following six days of rises.

"We're seeing the Obama rally," Patrick Crabb, senior sales trader at Goldman Sachs JB Were in Melbourne, told Dow Jones Newswires.

"Even if economic figures and sentiment remain grim, markets still have high expectations for the policies that he will iron out from January," said Saburo Matsumoto, chief forex strategist at Sumitomo Trust Bank.

"Markets generally favour a Republican government," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC. "But this belief has collapsed amid the financial crisis."

Obama's election also boosted the dollar. The greenback was at 1.2882 to the euro in Tokyo afternoon trade, down from 1.2975 in New York on Tuesday.

Dealers had said before the vote that a decisive win by either Obama or his Republican rival John McCain would clear up uncertainty about the leadership of the economy and handling of the financial crisis.

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.


- AFP/so