Asian markets gain after FBI says Hillary Clinton did not commit any criminal wrongdoing

Asian stock market indices were all trading higher on Monday (7 November), with the Shanghai Composite up 0.14% at 3,129.64 as of 6.16am GMT, following the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) saying that US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton did not commit any criminal wrongdoing by using a private email server.

On Sunday, FBI Director James Comey informed members of Congress that it had not found any evidence of criminality against the Democrat candidate. Hence it said there was no reason for the agency to change its earlier decision that Clinton shouldn't face any charges.

Analysts said this was good news for investors, who had earlier feared that a win for Republican Donald Trump could lead to a sell-off in equity markets. "This has made matters a lot easier for Hillary Clinton and it will help her to ease off some of the uncertainty and (is) good news for investors who have an appetite for risk in this environment," Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at ThinkMarkets, was quoted as saying by CNBC.

Investors, however, are said to remain wary, ahead of the US presidential elections on 8 November. Wei Jianfei, an analyst with Zhongcheng Securities, said once the election results are out, the concerns will become related to the long-term impact. "When the dust settles, the focus will be shifted to the long-term impact of the vote, whoever wins," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Indices in the region were trading as follows at 6.33am GMT:

Last week (4 November), the FTSE 100 closed 1.43% lower at 6,693.26, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower by 0.24% at 17,888.28.

Among commodities, oil prices were trading higher as traders used the sharp declines over the previous week as a buying opportunity. While WTI crude oil was trading higher by 1.66% at $44.80 (£36.04) a barrel, Brent crude was 1.58% higher at $46.30 a barrel as of 6.42am GMT.