Stocks, dollar hemmed in ahead of U.S. election results

© Reuters. People walk through the lobby of the London Stock Exchange in London

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global equity markets and the dollar were little changed on Tuesday as investors exercised caution at the conclusion of one of the most contentious U.S. presidential election campaigns in history.

The market has been pricing in a win for Democrat Hillary Clinton, including a 2 percent jump in the S&P 500 on Monday after the FBI maintained its view that no criminal charges were warranted in a probe over her email practices. However, sharp election-related swings in recent weeks across all asset classes kept big bets in check with voting underway.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 31.74 points, or 0.17 percent, to 18,291.34, the S&P 500 gained 1.85 points, or 0.09 percent, to 2,133.37 and the Nasdaq Composite added 2.76 points, or 0.05 percent, to 5,168.93.

The dollar was down 0.07 percent against a basket of currencies as gold made ground and yields on U.S. Treasuries rose slightly.

"Today is going to be a waiting game and likely the calm before the storm tomorrow, which can go either way depending on the outcome," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

At the end of a bruising election campaign, the Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation poll gave Clinton a 90 percent chance of defeating Republican Donald Trump and said she was on track to win 303 Electoral College votes out of 270 needed, to Trump's 235. [nL1N1D90G2]

Europe's index of leading 300 shares, which posted its biggest gain in two months on Monday, added 0.3 percent. MSCI's all-country world index was up 0.4 percent after notching its best day since late June on Monday.

Clinton has been the preferred candidate by investors, generally seen as a known quantity, over the political wild card, Trump.

But investors remained wary, noting Britain's shock vote in June to leave the European Union had caught investors and pollsters off guard.

The dollar, was also flat at 18.589 versus the Mexican peso, which has been a market proxy for sentiment over the U.S. election and has performed in inverse correlation with Trump's perceived chances of winning the White House.

Mexico is considered most vulnerable to Trump's trade policies as 80 percent of its exports go to the United States.

Benchmark 10-year notes slipped 2/32 in price to yield 1.8333 percent, up slightly from Monday's 1.828 percent. [nL1N1D90UH]

Crude oil futures were mixed, but little changed, with U.S. crude up 0.3 percent at $45.03 a barrel and global benchmark Brent flat at $46.19. Oil prices have been largely influenced in recent weeks by the possibility of a planned output cut by oil producers to curb oversupply.

But safety plays were also in favor as gold edged up 0.01 percent to $1,281 an ounce, clawing back some of its 1.7 percent loss from the previous session.