Stocks in Asia rally as chances of Biden presidency improve

SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - Stocks in Asia rose sharply on Thursday as it appeared Joe Biden's chances of winning the U.S. presidency solidified.

Stocks in China were sought after due to the rift of recent months between the Trump administration and the Chinese government over a raft of issues. OIf Trump goes that may take the strain out of the relationship.

The biggest move was Hong Kong's Hang Seng which zoomed up 741.14 points or 2.98 percent to 25,627.28.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 jumped 410.05 points or 1.73 percent to 24,105.28.

China's Shanghai Composite climbed 42.69 points or 1.30 percent to 3,320.13.

In Australia, the All Ordinaries advanced 79.00 points or 1.26 percent to 6,344.00

On foreign exchange markets there was little change, the U.S. dollar was range-bound.

The euro was changing hands at 1.1738 late in Australian trading Thursday. The British pound was a touch stronger at 1.3022 after the Bank of England said it was engaging in some additional quantitative easing. The Japanese yen rose a tad to 104.31. The Swiss franc did likewise, last trading in Sydney Thursday at 0.9099.

The Canadian dollar inched up to 1.3117. The Australian dollar was a touch higher at 0.7202. The New Zealand dollar appreciated to 0.6721.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was ahead 367.63 points or 1.34% 27,847.66.

The Standard and Poor's 500 rose 74.28 points or 2.20% to 3,443.44.

The Nasdaq Composite climbed a massive 430.21 points or 3.85%, which according to Reuters Thompson was the biggest daily percentage gain since mid-April. The index closed at 11,590.78.