Asian shares, US futures gain after last Trump-Biden  debate

Asian shares, US futures gain after last Trump-Biden debate

SeattlePI.com

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Shares were mostly higher in Asia on Friday after President Donald Trump and his challenger former Vice President Joe Biden faced off in their second and final debate before the Nov. 3 election.

Stocks rose in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul but fell in Shanghai. Sydney's benchmark ended flat.

In their debate late Thursday, U.S. time, Trump and his Democratic challenger Biden largely avoided the disorganized rancor of their first face-off in a more substantive exchange highlighting their vastly different approaches to many challenges facing the nation.

At the least, it gave markets no fresh reason for alarm.

“The final U.S. presidential debate was less chaotic than the first but offered little new information to inform the result for markets," Stephen Innes of Axi said in a commentary. “Meanwhile, discussion relevant to the post-election economic outlook was limited, particularly from President Trump."

U.S. stock futures shifted from modest losses to less than 0.1% gains in the debate's aftermath.

Japan's Nikkei 225 picked up 0.4% to 23,561.96 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.4% to 24,902.30. In Seoul, the Kospi edged 0.2% higher to 2,360.36.

The Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.1% to 3,309.42. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was unchanged at 6,174.10. Taiwan's benchmark declined.

India's Sensex rose 0.3% and shares rose in Southeast Asia.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gave up 0.1% to 6,166.90.

On Wall Street, stocks shook off a wobbly start to end higher, with the S&P 500 up 0.5%.

Several earnings reports from big U.S. companies came in better than analysts had expected, which helped put investors in a buying mood. Also, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said progress was being made on talks to deliver more stimulus to the U.S. economy.

Markets have been...

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