Trump card: The Dow Jones has hit an all time high after Donald Trump’s win
If there's one thing markets like, it's certainty. It may have been suggested a Donald Trump victory could lead to recession, then eventual doom for all of humanity – but now the markets have an idea of what they're in for, they're actually pretty cheerful.
In fact, the Dow Jones hit an all-time high after soaring 150 points following the opening bell in New York.
The market jumped to 18,752 points, up 0.9 per cent, having closed yesterday 1.4 per cent higher, at 18,589 points, while the S&P 500 finished 1.1 per cent higher, at 2,163 points.
And after Japan's Nikkei – which yesterday was on a decidedly downward trajectory – finished 6.7 per cent higher, European markets followed suit this morning – although the FTSE 100 fell back this afternoon.
Having risen one per cent this morning, the FTSE 100 was down 0.4 per cent in mid-afternoon trading, at 6,883 points. However, France's Cac 40 remained 0.7 per cent higher, at at 4,575 points, and Germany's Dax was up 0.6 per cent, at 10,716 points.
The FTSE's rise was led by copper miner Antofagasta, which rocketed 13.8 per cent per cent at 729.7p – suggesting investors are keeping an eye on safe-ish havens.
Other miners – Glencore, Anglo American, Rio Tinto – were also among the top risers, as was BAE Systems, whose shares shot up another 4.2 per cent today, to 610p, on hints Trump is planning to ramp up defence spending.
This graphic, compiled for City PM by Statista, shows how the market reaction to Trump's win compares with the aftermath of the EU referendum.
Read more: Trumpism will clash with economic reality – here's why
Meanwhile the US dollar was 1.1 per cent stronger against the yen, after a sharp fall in the wee hours of yesterday morning. It was also higher against the euro, rising 0.3 per cent and 0.11 per cent respectively – although it fell 0.5 per cent against the pound, to £0.8016.
"It was Trump's acceptance speech that sparked the fierce turnaround as he calmed fears," pointed out James Hughes, chief markets analyst at GKFX.
"The biggest fear for markets had been around the prospect for the Fed’s December rate hike that had almost been priced into the market.
"In the past the Fed have used uncertain markets and aggressive downside moves as reasons not to move the bench mark interest rate. However market probability, which was up at 85 per cent prior to yesterday’s result, dropped only mildly to 75 per cent.
"The prospect that rates will be higher and regulation lower in the financial sector under a Trump presidency has helped every European bank to open in the green so far this morning."
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