Japan markets still awaiting US election result

The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 rose on Thursday as investors continued to wait for the result of the United States presidential election. The Nikkei 225 followed the U.S. market that also rose as investors hoped the next president would soon be determined.

Democrat Joe Biden won the battleground prizes of Michigan and Wisconsin on Wednesday, reclaiming a key part of the "blue wall" that slipped away from Democrats four years ago and dramatically narrowing Republican President Donald Trump's pathway to reelection.

A full day after Election Day, neither candidate had cleared the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House. But Biden's victories in the Great Lakes states left him at 264, meaning he was one battleground state away from crossing the threshold and becoming president-elect.