Despite continued jitters over the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union, U.S. and European markets were higher on Tuesday spurring a $3 trillion post-Brexit global rout. Asia markets followed the lead and opened higher on Wednesday.
Australia’s ASX 200 added 0.89 percent in early trade, with the heavily-weighted financials sub-index, which accounts for nearly half of the broader index, gaining 0.64 percent. The country’s major banks advanced, with Westpac shares up 1.02 percent.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 1.54 percent, while the Korean Kospi was up 1.19 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.92 percent and Chinese mainland markets also advanced, with the Shanghai composite up 0.34 percent and Shenzhen composite higher by 0.33 percent.
The Asian markets hardly reacted to the attack at Istanbuk’s Ataturk Airport on Tuesday, which killed 36 people and left hundreds wounded.
Limited Immigration Key Factor
In his final meeting with EU leaders before standing down as Prime Minister, David Cameron told the EU it must reform freedom of movement rules if Britain is to maintain close economic ties with the continent in the wake of the referendum. He pointed out that the main factor in the Brexit vote was that people believed the country has “no control†of its borders.
The PM also said that Britain would only be able to maintain access to the single market if the bloc agreed to review at its policy of open borders.
In the currency market, sterling traded at $1.3315 as of 9:47 a.m. HK/SIN on Wednesday, off a 31-year low of $1.3122 touched Monday, but still well below the year-to-date high of $1.5018 it touched in the hours before the referendum results were released.
