KEY POINTS:
Sharemarkets gained yesterday as Barack Obama was elected 44th United States President.
New Zealand's NZX-50 index closed up 1.5 per cent at 2886.11.
Phil Hunter of First NZ Capital said: "It is just following on from offshore trends. There was no particular company news in New Zealand."
In Australia, the ASX-50 rose 121.5 points, or 2.9 per cent, to 4336.6.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average climbed 4.5 per cent to 9521.24.
All markets open for trading were up, except in the Philippines. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 2.8 per cent last night.
MSCI's Asian index is set to complete a three-day, 9.5 per cent advance amid Government efforts to boost economies in the region. Australia and India cut interest rates and South Korea pledged to pump US$10.8 billion into its economy.
Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.2 per cent. The S&P 500 climbed 4.1 per cent yesterday, the biggest election day rally in 24 years.
Obama will face an economy battered by declining corporate profits and the highest unemployment in five years.
Concern that US$680 billion in bank writedowns will halt growth pushed the S&P 500 down 17 per cent last month, the most since 1987. The MSCI Asia Pacific slumped 20 per cent.
"The US presidential election can change investment sentiment," said Roger Groebli at LGT Capital Management. "The new President can't work miracles, but maybe he'll open the gateway to change."
The US dollar gained against the euro on speculation Obama's victory will help the Government to overcome a recession.
The New Zealand was up against the greenback, reaching US60.48c from US58.70c on Wednesday.
- AGENCIES
