The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) and European stocks were higher on Thursday as Donald Trump claimed victory as the next president of the world’s biggest economy.
He said it was a “magnificent victory for the American people” and that it would “help our country heal”.
“America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate,” he said as he hailed Republican victory in the Senate.
As he beat Kamala Harris to the White House, Trump will become just the second president to serve non-consecutive terms in history, and the first for well over a hundred years, after Grover Cleveland in the late-19th century.
The US dollar was up by more than 1.5% against a basket of other major currencies, including the euro, pound and the Japanese yen. It is on track for its biggest one-day rise since March 2020.
The price of bitcoin (BTC-USD) and bond yields also surged on the back of the news as markets awaited official confirmation of the outcome.
Trump has stated that he will dramatically increase trade tariffs, especially on China, if he won the election.
“Trump’s global trade policies are causing particular angst in Asia, given the strong protectionist platform on which more aggressive tariffs on imports into the US have been pledged,” said Katrina Ell, director of economic research at Moody’s Analytics.
It still may take some days before we know the outcome for the House of Representatives.
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London’s benchmark index was 0.7% higher in early trade.
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Germany’s DAX (^GDAXI) rose 0.6% and the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris headed 0.7% into the green.
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The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) was up 0.9%.
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Wall Street is set to open sharply higher in New York as S&P 500 futures (ES=F), Dow futures (YM=F) and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were all in the green.
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The pound was 1.3% down against the dollar (GBPUSD=X) at 1.2868, its lowest level in two months. The US greenback enjoyed its best day in four years.
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