The prospect of a Donald Trump presidency unnerves business people and economists who see him as a reckless novice who might disrupt trade and a struggling global economy.
Trump’s shifting and radical positions on key issues and lack of details such as who might be appointed to Cabinet posts heightened jitters by leaving many uncertain about the direction of the world’s biggest economy and market.
“We simply can’t know what type of President Trump will be,” said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist for Capital Economics, in a report.
“Will he be the demagogue from the campaign trail, who threatened to lock up his political opponents, punish the media, build border walls and start a global trade war?” said Ashford. “Or is he capable of becoming a statesmanlike figure who leads in a more measured manner?”
Due to such uncertainty, risks to global growth will rise as companies wait to see what Washington does, said South Korea’s finance minister, Yoo Il-ho, according to a government statement.
In a victory speech, Trump was conciliatory but pledged to put U.S. interests first. He gave no additional details about his plans.
“I want to tell the world community that while we will always put America’s interests first, we will deal fairly with everyone. With everyone. All people and all other nations,” Trump said. “We will seek common ground, not hostility. Partnership, not conflict.”
Here are the latest on developments in financial markets (All times Frankfort time):
The ruble had been down in early trading but is now trading at around 63.8 rubles to the dollar and near to yesterday’s close.
Moscow-based Sberbank analyst Tom Levinson says the ruble has proved among the “most resilient” of world currencies in part due to expectations for “greater communication on the political level” between the U.S. and Russia, as well as Russia’s lack of dependence on non-energy exports.
It’s been a similar regarding Russian stocks. The Moscow exchange’s main MICEX index had been down 1.4 percent in early trading, but swiftly recovered its losses and was trading up 1.6 percent at 1.p.m local time.
One of the main drivers of growth for the MICEX is gold and silver producer Polymetal, which was up almost 5 percent. Demand is strong worldwide for precious metals, a traditional safe haven for investors.
___
10:05 a.m.
European stock markets and Wall Street futures have trimmed a chunk of their early losses after a relatively soft victory speech from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
Germany’s DAX is down 2 percent at 10,267 while the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares is 1 percent lower at 6,773.
U.S. stocks are also expected to open lower too, though by far less than earlier predictions. Dow futures are 1.6 percent lower at 17,996 while the broader S&P 500 futures are down 2 percent at 2,094.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at Forex.com, says Trump “definitely sounded more presidential than he has done at any stage during the election campaign” during his victory speech, in which he praised Hillary Clinton.
Brooks says the speech has helped soothe stressed markets.
___
9:35 a.m.
As stock markets around the world take a tumble following the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States, investments traditionally viewed as safe havens are getting a lift.
Gold is up 1.8 percent at $1,297 an ounce, while the Swiss franc has risen against the dollar, which is down 0.7 percent at 0.9725 Swiss francs. The Japanese yen has also been heavily in demand, with the dollar down 1.9 percent at 103.17 yen.
___
9:15 a.m.
European markets have opened lower after Donald Trump was elected president of the United States.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 2.2 percent, while Germany’s main DAX index opened 2.9 percent lower. The euro was 0.6 percent higher at $1.1092 as the dollar dropped across the board.
Carsten Brzeski, chief economist at ING Germany, said markets faced “chaos and turmoil” in coming days because of uncertainty about what economic program Trump would follow. Germany, for instance, depends heavily on global trade, while Trump has spoken out against trade treaties.
Brzeski said global market turmoil could be worse than that which followed the British vote to leave the European Union due to the bigger role the U.S. plays in the global economy.
___
5:30 a.m.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 has briefly plunged more than 6.1 percent as investors react to the prospect of a Trump presidency.
By late in Tokyo’s trading session, the Nikkei was down 5.2 percent, after the Kyodo News agency reported that top officials from the Bank of Japan, Finance Ministry and Financial Services Agency would meet later in the day to discuss how to respond to possible wild fluctuations in financial markets.
Japanese shares tend to gain when the yen weakens, since that can help manufacturers when they bring back profits from overseas. On Wednesday, the dollar had dropped 3.2 percent to 101.58 yen from a high of 105.46 earlier in the day.
___
4:00 a.m.
Investors are unloading shares as prospects for a Trump presidency appear to be rising. Dow futures have tumbled 3.5 percent or 643.00 points to 17,647.00 and S&P 500 futures are down 4.1 percent or 86.50 points at 2,049.00.
Shares are tumbling across Asia, with the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo down 4.4 percent at 16,410.55. India’s Sensex has sunk 5.4 percent to 26,164.36.
The dollar has plunged against the yen, dropping to 101.99 yen from 105.46 yen earlier in the session.
The Mexican peso, seen as a proxy for Trump’s chances of winning, has fallen 10.7 percent to 20.32 pesos to the dollar.
