Asian stocks rise as markets give thumbs up to Hillary Clinton in presidential debate

Most Asian stock market indices were trading higher on Tuesday (27 September), with the Shanghai Composite up 0.15% at 2,984.84 as of 6.36am GMT as investors and analysts gave Hillary Clinton the thumbs up over Donald Trump in the first US presidential debate.

The 90-minute debate between the Democrat and Republican presidential candidates took place on Monday night (26 September), the first of three before the November elections. Clinton is said to have appeared relaxed and in control throughout most of the debate. She was seen as the debate's winner, with many praising her ability to effectively slam Trump with facts and figures.

Sean Callow, an analyst with Westpac in Sydney, said: "Markets started to call the debate for Hillary within the first 15 minutes or so, with the Mexican peso surging in what is probably its busiest Asian session in years... The bounce in S&P futures, AUD and USD/JPY all show that investors were watching closely and didn't hesitate to declare Trump the loser."

The Mexican currency had declined in recent days amid concerns that a victory for Trump in the US elections would threaten Mexico's exports to the US, according to Reuters.

David Bloom, global head of forex strategy at HSBC, said: "There's a thing called 'Trump thermometer'...If you want to know who won the presidential debate, don't go to Twitter or Facebook. Just look at the dollar/Mexico peso."

Indices in the region were trading as follows at 6.53 am GMT:

Overnight (26 September), the FTSE 100 closed 1.32% lower at 6,818.04, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower by 0.91% at 18,094.83.

Among commodities, oil prices were in the red. While WTI crude oil was trading lower by 0.35% at $45.77 (£35.27) a barrel, Brent crude was trading 0.65% lower at $47.04 a barrel as of 7.01am GMT.