Asian Stocks Rise on News of Bin Laden's Death

Source: NYT

By BETTINA WASSENER
Published: May 2, 2011

HONG KONG — U.S. stock futures rose and the price of oil, gold and silver fell Monday as news of Osama bin Laden’s death eased global security concerns, at least for the moment.

In Asia, the Japanese and South Korean markets, which were already 1 percent higher in the morning, rallied after President Barack Obama announced that U.S. forces had killed bin Laden in Pakistan.

The Nikkei 225 index rose 1.6 percent and the Kospi by 1.7 percent by the close. The gains took the Nikkei to above the 10,000-point mark for the first time since the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck the country on March 11.

However, the rally did not extend across all of Asia: In India the Sensex index fell 0.1 percent by midafternoon. The Australian market closed barely changed after mild losses earlier in the day.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/business/03markets.html

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I strongly suspect President Obama's 'stock' has risen, too.



(hat tip to Lasher for the animated GIF)