Markets cheer Clinton in US president debate

Hong Kong : Financial markets cheered Hillary Clinton's performance in the first US presidential debateTuesday, with stocks and high-risk currencies staging a "relief rally" as investors hailed her as the victor over Republican rival Donald Trump.

Key Asian bourses got a bounce as a confident Clinton bested her rival in the 90-minute showdown, some reversing earlier declines.

Tokyo closed 0.8 percent up, a dramatic volte-face from its 0.9 percent drop at the open, while Sydney also trimmed early losses. 

Hong Kong opened up 0.5 percent but was more than 1 percent higher in the afternoon, while Seoul, Bangkok and Singapore were also up.

“US futures have moved ahead as the debate unravelled, and I think that is one of the factors” for Asian markets erasing losses, Michael McCarthy, a chief market strategist at CMC Markets told Bloomberg News. 

“In policy terms, no doubt to Clinton; in emotional and tone terms, Clinton is also ahead at this stage. She is winning on both counts would be my current assessment.”

On forex markets, the safe-haven yen dropped, while emerging-market and other currencies surged as traders moved back into riskier assets. 

The Mexican peso rebounded off a record low, rocketing nearly two percent to 19.5047 against the US dollar. 

The unit had slumped ahead of the debate as the prospect of a Trump presidency fanned concerns about the Republican candidate's pledge to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement if he wins.

"The peso, Canadian dollar... and Australian dollar are all surging -- very much a relief rally in risk assets," said Sean Callow, a senior currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. in Sydney, according to Bloomberg.

"In FX markets, the most obvious trade to anticipate a Trump presidency is to short the peso."

Angus Nicholson, a Melbourne-based market analyst at IG Ltd. agreed that the market swing was possibly a reflection of Clinton doing well. 

“Trump is largely regarded as a market negative and certainly him doing quite poorly in the debatewould reassure a lot of investors. But it’s early days,” he told Bloomberg.

Oil reversed the Monday's gains, with eyes on a producers' meeting in Algeria.

Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will meet Wednesday with key producer Russia, on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum.

West Texas Intermediate was down 22 cents to $45.83 while Brent declined 36 cents to $47.18. 

"The markets are waiting for more news out of Algeria. Trading has been thin so what we're seeing is mostly early-morning profit taking in Asia," OANDA senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley told AFP.