SEOUL, Korea — Global stock markets started the week on a strong note Monday after the director of the FBI said the bureau found no evidence warranting criminal charges against presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in a trove of newly discovered emails.
KEEPING SCORE: Britain’s FTSE advanced 1.3 per cent to 6,777.00 while France’s CAC 40 jumped 1.5 per cent to 4,441.31 and Germany’s DAX rose 1.4 per cent to 10,398.36. Futures showed Wall Street was due for a sharp gain. Dow futures surged 1.3 per cent while S&P futures spied 1.4 per cent.
ELECTION UPDATES: Dow Jones index futures jumped about 200 points ahead of Monday’s opening, apparently in response to FBI Director James Comey’s announcement Sunday that a review of new Hillary Clinton emails did not change the FBI’s recommendation that she should not face charges. The market had wilted on Oct. 28 after the FBI notified Congress that it was reviewing new emails linked to Clinton.
ANALYST COMMENT: “Markets are likely to remove some of the risk premium taken as a precaution against a Trump victory now that Hilary Clinton will not be charged over her use of a private email server,” Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said in a commentary. “However, an element of uncertainty remains over this election. It seems unlikely that markets will make a full ’risk on’ move until Clinton is declared the winner.”
ASIA’S DAY: Japan’s Nikkei 225 finished 1.6 per cent higher at 17,177.21 and South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.8 per cent to 1,997.58. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong added 0.7 per cent to 22,801.40, while Australia’s S&P ASX/200 jumped 1.4 per cent to 5,250.80. Shanghai’s Composite index added 0.3 per cent to 3,133.33. Stocks in Taiwan and Southeast Asia were mostly higher, but the Philippine benchmark index fell 0.4 per cent.
CURRENCIES: The U.S. dollar rose to 104.51 yen from 103.11 on Friday. The euro slipped to $1.1061 from $1.1142 on Friday. The Mexican peso jumped nearly 2 per cent. The dollar fell to 18.65 Mexican pesos per dollar from 19.02 to the dollar on Friday.
ENERGY: U.S. benchmark crude oil rose 70 cents to $44.77 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 59 cents on Friday to $44.07. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, gained 62 cents to $46.20 a barrel in London.
