Does First Really Matter?

There is a fascination with being First.  If nothing else, each New Year's Eve the network tvcasts go live to Sydney to bring in the new year ahead of the US.
And so it is with the Asian markets.  Credit the global time zones with that.
The same timing holds true with the Asian stock markets So the question becomes who is leading and who is following?  Do Asian markets key off our domestic exchanges or do we follow the Asian lead.  This will be in deep contrast tonight as Asia trades while we eat dinner and sleep.