Asian Shares Trade Higher Following Banner Day in the U.S.

Asian shares traded in positive territory Wednesday, taking a lead from record gains in the U.S. overnight that were driven by continuing post-election exuberance.

The S&P/ASX 200 was recently up 0.9% and South Korea's Kospi gained 0.3%. Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Tuesday closed above 19,000 for the first time. It ended the day 0.4% higher at 19,023.87 points. The S&P 500 was up 0.2%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.4% Wednesday, the Shanghai Composite was 0.3% higher and Taiwan's Taiex was up 0.5%.

While traders initially reacted badly to the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency—particularly in Asia, where he is seen as being skeptical of free-trade pacts—investors are coming around to the view that his aggressive stimulus plans will counter most negatives.

"The market views have changed," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney. "The overriding sentiment is that [initial] misgivings about a Trump presidency are being offset by expectations that he has proposed a fiscal stimulus."

Mr. Trump has promised to increase spending on infrastructure, which would lift global prices for steel and cement. Demand for commodities, especially copper, would also benefit, Mr. Spooner said.

In Australia, miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto gained 2.7% and 2.2% respectively while Korean steelmaker and miner Posco added 1%.

Prices of copper, nickel and zinc were trading higher on the London Metal Exchange, according to FactSet data.

Average growth in the U.S. is expected to rise to 2.2% in 2017 from 1.5% in 2016, Deutsche Bank Wealth Management said in a note Wednesday.

U.S. home buying activity rose in October for the second straight month to a new cyclical high, an indication of robust demand. October sales of previously owned homes rose at the strongest pace since February 2007.

Elsewhere, traders were watching an interest-rate decision from the Malaysian central bank. Bank Negara Malaysia is expected to hold its policy rate at 3% as the recent weakening of the ringgit has crimped its headroom in spite of a benign inflation outlook.

Write to Kenan Machado at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 22, 2016 22:05 ET (03:05 GMT)

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