Republican Donald J Trump has won US presidential elections, defeating Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and shocking pollsters and financial markets alike.
The businessman-turned-politician, who will be the 45th US president, told supporters at his campaign headquarters in New York that Clinton called him and conceded defeat.
Trump has secured 276 electoral college votes, more than the 270 required to win the White House, with Hillary far behind at 218, till results last came in, according to Bloomberg.
The shock Trump win sent stock markets across the world reeling, with investors moving toward gold, pushing the precious metal to a six-week high. Dow futures suggested that the US stock market was down almost 500 points after paring some initial losses.
The BSE Sensex fell as much as 6% in morning trade before paring some losses to trade 2% down. The Indian markets are, of course, also weighed down by the Narendra Modi government’s sudden decision Tuesday night to abolish all currency notes of denominations Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 to fight graft, illegal income and terror funding.
Asian and European markets fell, too. Japan’s Nikkei Average dropped 5.4% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slid 4.2% before recovering to trade down 2.4%. Benchmark stock market indices in the UK, France and Germany were down as much as 1.75%.
The US dollar slipped against major currencies. The greenback dropped to 66.46 against the rupee from 66.62 on Tuesday.
Hedge fund Bridgewater Associates has reportedly said that the Dow Jones Industrial Average could plunge up to 2,000 points on Trump's win.
Citing Bridgewater, Fortune says that such a drop would be the biggest since the 777-drop on 29 October 2008 and could erase $1.9 trillion from the US stock markets. Ratings agency Moody’s has reportedly said a Trump victory could lead to a recession.
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