Wall Street embraces Trump win

Wall Street stocks beat expectations on the news that Donald Trump would be the next president of the United States. This came as a surprise, as many analysts had predicted a fall in the markets if Trump won, with some even expecting a 5 percent drop in major exchanges. The Dow Jones was up by 257 points on Wednesday, tail-gating record highs. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were also excitable, going up 1.1 percent. In the midst of the voting, the market was in a state of panic, with Dow futures going down by nearly 900 points as fears over a stalemate emerged. The return to civility was boosted by Clinton’s concession to Trump earlier in the day, and by Trump’s victory speech. The president-elect highlighted economic growth and favourable policies as his mantle, as opposed to some of the brutish tactics hinted at during his campaign. “The selloff last night was an hysterical reaction,” said David Bianco, chief U.S. equity strategist at Deutsche Bank. “There are a lot of potentially damaging policies that could be introduced, but we think sober minds will prevail.”

Global markets appear to have borne the brunt of the election outcome. Asian stocks were down, particularly the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo, which fell by 5 percent. The Mexican Peso lost 11 percent at some point, bringing it to its lowest level against the dollar. These markets were affected by Trump’s anti-trade tirades, particularly against Mexico and China. The Mexican economy is heavily dependent on trade with the U.S. European markets slumped similar to the US, but recovered during the day. While the news in the U.S. is generally positive, the healthcare industry was not so upbeat. Shares dipped over fears that Trump would end Obamacare. Banks on the other hand were much improved, as hopes that the new president would curtail the Dodd-Franck Act were high.