Republican candidate Donald Trump has been elected as the 45th president of the United States, according to reports on Wednesday. Trump’s rise to the White House came after a range of several hard fought swing states in the Midwest, Southeast, and rust belt, clinching one of the biggest upsets in modern American political history.
Trump took the stage at the Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan at 2:50 am ET to declare that Democratic Hillary Clinton conceded defeat. In his statement, Trump made an effort to make peace after a long and intense presidential election. “It is time for us to come together as one united people,” Trump said. “I pledge to every citizen in the land that I will be president to all Americans,” he added, before explaining an agenda that he defined as ‘America first’ while on the campaign track.
While Trump took the lead in the US presidential vote, US stock markets dropped with futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling nearly 4 percent, as investors started to brace for Trump’s agenda and anti-free trade views. Those losses were cut down when Trump struck an appeasing tone in accepting Clinton’s concession.
Fear of a Trump victory was evident at the open of trading in Europe, where London stocks plummeted 2 percent, after futures implied losses as high as 4 percent. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong stumbled 2.7 percent, the South Korean KOSPI lost 2.5 percent and the Japanese Nikkei 225 fell 5.1 percent. On the other hand, Australian and New Zealand markets plunged by a similar measure.
Meanwhile, assets that increased in value during the time of market upheaval surged. Gold added $41 to $1,316 a troy ounce, or more than 3.2 percent. Ten-year US treasury note yields slipped 12 basis points to 1.73 percent, suggesting an investor flight to the safety of government bonds. The euro declined 2 percent, while the Japanese yen fell 3 percent.
The Mexican peso, which has fluctuated most violently depending on forecasts for the presidential vote, dipped. On Tuesday, as Hillary Clinton showed an advantage in early voting, the currency rose to two week highs. However, it fell more than 13.07 percent after midnight when reports showed that Trump was in the lead.
Stock Futures Weaken
At 9:53 pm ET, stock futures turned sharply negative, as Donald Trump extended his lead on Hillary Clinton in the state of Florida. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost more than 489 points, or approximately 3 percent. Gold and futures on the CBOE volatility index are gaining as Trump advanced to the presidency.
Markets started to sell-off in mid-afternoon trading after Donald Trump sued the Clark County Registrar of Voters, seeking to seize and segregate ballots from early voting on Friday. According to Trump, the registrar unlawfully extended voting hours by allowing voters to enter after an 8 pm deadline.
Volatility in early trading was mostly limited to Tuesday stock blowups from companies, which all used Election day to drop significantly negative earnings and guidance on their investors.
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