Asian stocks climb as markets see lesser chances of victory for Donald Trump

Most Asian stock market indices were trading higher on Monday (10 October) with the Shanghai Composite up 1.19% at 3,040.46 as of 6.02am GMT. This was amid markets seeing a reduced chance of victory for Republican nominee Donald Trump in the US Presidential elections.

Trump's chances are said to have reduced after a video containing his lewd and derogatory remarks about women went public on Friday (7 October). This three-minute video in which he had admitted to groping women was said to be taken in 2005, just months after his marriage to wife Melania Trump.

After the video went viral, senior figures in the US Republican Party condemned Donald Trump in the strongest possible terms. One among them was Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former governor of California. He said on Twitter that for the first time since he "became a citizen in 1983, [he] will not vote for the Republican candidate for president."

According to website FiveThirtyEight the probability of Hillary Clinton winning the US presidential elections stands at over 81%. Traders took this as a positive sign as there is said to more uncertainty about what a Trump government would translate to for the US foreign policy, trade and the economy than a Hillary administration.

Indices in the region were trading as follows at 6.31am GMT:

Last week (7 October), the FTSE 100 closed 0.63% higher at 7,044.39, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower by 0.15% at 18,240.49.

Among commodities, oil prices were trading in the red. According to Reuters, this was amid profit-taking. While WTI crude oil was trading lower by 0.96% at $49.33 (£39.85) a barrel, Brent crude was trading 0.89% lower at $51.47 a barrel as of 6.36am GMT.