Wall Street rally, Japan election drive Asian shares higher

By ELAINE KURTENBACH
AP Business Writer

Stocks have advanced in Asia, with Tokyo’s benchmark up 2.5% after the ruling Liberal Democrats won a stronger than expected majority in an election Sunday. Shares rose in all regional markets except Hong Kong. The regional gains followed further milestones Friday on Wall Street, where the three major indexes set records. The S&P 500 rose 0.2%; the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3% and the Nasdaq closed 0.3% higher. However, the Commerce Department reported that consumer spending grew just 0.6% in September, a cautionary sign for an economy that remains in the grip of a pandemic and a prolonged bout of high inflation.