World Market Fell after Obama victory?

[mrsartis 10]

World markets down following Obama victory.

(CNN) -- World markets traded lower Wednesday despite strong gains in Asia overnight as investors booked profits following Barack Obama's stunning victory in the U.S. presidential election.

Markets worldwide had rallied in the run-up to the election. On Election Day, Wall Street surged with the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average jumping more than 300 points.

Many investors were hopeful that the new president would focus renewed energy on tackling deteriorating economic conditions in America -- a vital export market for Asian goods -- that have dragged on growth around the world.

Obama's win "is an excuse for the market to rally. There's less political uncertainty and that gives investors more confidence in the short term," Frank Gong, a Hong Kong-based managing director for JP Morgan Securities, told The Associated Press. "But technically it's more about the credit crisis settling down and the market's fear coming down."

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 156.99 points, or 1.63 percent, to 9,468 in early trading, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 15.78, or 1.57 percent, to 990.

Stocks in Europe fell after six straight sessions of gains. Britain's FTSE 100 was down 2.3 percent by mid-afternoon in trading. The CAC-40 in France was down about 2.3 percent and Germany's DAX was 2.0 percent lower.

It was a different story across Asia, as most markets rose. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average advanced 4.5 percent at close, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged by 3.2 percent.

Australia's index rose 2.9 percent, and Singapore's key stock measure added 4.4 percent. India's market fell 1.9 percent.

The upswing followed Wall Street, where many investors looked past more signs of a slumping U.S. economy and piled into stocks, AP said.

The Dow Jones index staged its biggest Election Day rally ever, rising 305.45 points, or 3.3 percent, to close at 9,625.28. The broader indices also rose, with the Standard & Poor's 500 index up 39.45, or 4.1 percent, to 1,005.75, its first close over the 1,000 mark since Oct. 13.

Wall Street futures were up modestly, suggesting a higher open in the U.S. Wednesday. Dow futures were up 22 points, or 0.2 percent, at 9,609.

In Japan, a weaker yen boosted shares of major exporters including automakers and consumer electronics firms. Toyota Motor Corp. rose 8.1 percent, Canon Inc. jumped 11.7 percent and Sony Corp. advanced 6.3 percent.

The dollar was trading at 99.70 yen, up from the 98-yen zone the previous day in Asia.

Meanwhile, oil prices retreated after surging above $70 a barrel overnight. Light, sweet crude for December delivery was changing hands at $68.93, down $1.60 cents, in Asian trade on the New York Mercantile Exchang