U.S. Stocks Nosedive 2% After Obama’s Win

US markets took a sharp fall yesterday in the expected post Democratic win of the Whitehouse. The DJIA logged its biggest decline in nearly a year. The doom came for several reason but two led investor worries: the looming “fiscal cliff” in the States and worries over Europe’s weak and weakening economy.

The Dow Jones closed below 13000.00, a drop of 2.36% to close at 12932.73. This level has not been seen since early August. The S&P 500 fell below 1400 and the NASDAQ 50 fell below 2938.

All key S&P sectors were in the red as energy and financial stocks took a hit. AAPL lost another 3.83%, falling 22.1976 points to close at 558.0019. This fall has pushed the technology giant every further down from its high of 705.07 in September. Since the death of Steve Jobs, Apple has lost 20% of that high.

Also falling, yesterday, were banks led by Bank of America (BAC) down 7.14% and JP Morgan (JPM) which lost 2.14%.

Barack Obama was re-elected to another term in the most expensive campaign in history. He now faces many looming economic problems including a stagnating job market, sky rocketing debt and a GDP which is stuck in neutral. Fitch ratings Agency has stated that Obama must move very fast to avoid the “fiscal cliff.” Failure to act promptly would cause a downgrade in the US credit rating in 2013.

Turning our attention to Europe, European markets also turned sharply lower after the election results and negative comments from ECB head Mario Draghi that the economy for the EU will remain weak and the slowdown has reached Germany. Also, Greece is expected to vote on further austerity measures to ensure receiving its next aid tranche of €31.5 billion.

This morning in Asia, markets also took a nosedive. The Nikkei was off by 1.7% as a strengthening yen hurt exporters. Canon, Honda Motor and Toyota Motor we all down between 1.1 and 3%.

The Hang Seng lost 1.43% and the Shanghai lost 1.1% in China. Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX lost 32.70 points or 0.72%. The Kospi in South Korea was down 27.25 points or 1.41% led by Samsung electronics and Hyundai Motors.

Commodities were also weaker as Crude oil was sharply lower bringing a possible test of the supports at 81.00 and 80.00 in the near future. Gold was flat yesterday. The precious metal seemed undeterred by the equities markets and could still test 1750.00. In Forex, the Euro tanked. The EUR/USD fell from its high at 1.2876 and can now test 1.2650.

DISCLOSURE And DISCLAIMER: The Above Is For Informational Purposes Only And Not To Be Construed As Specific Trading Advice. Responsibility For Trade Decisions Is Solely With The Reader.