Wall Street’s main indexes soared to record highs, as Republican Donald Trump won the 2024 US presidential election in a remarkable comeback four years after he was voted out of the White House.
The S&P 500 rose 2.1 per cent in mid-afternoon trade, the Dow Jones surged 1345 points, or 3.2 per while the Nasdaq jumped by 2.4 per cent. The Australian sharemarket is set to edge lower, with futures at 4.52am AEDT pointing to a slip of 14 points, or 0.2 per cent, at the open. The ASX added 0.8 per cent on Wednesday.
The Trump trade erupted on Wall Street.Credit: AP
Wall Street is anticipating lower taxes, deregulation and a US president who is quick to sound off on everything from the stock market to the dollar, even though tariff hikes could bring challenges in the form of higher deficit and inflation.
The Republican’s win powered a rally in Trump trades, as US Treasury yields surged and the US dollar gained. The Australian dollar was 1 per cent lower at 65.72 US cents at 5.07am AEDT.
Trump has pledged to make the country “the crypto capital of the planet” and create a “strategic reserve” of bitcoin. The price of bitcoin hit an all-time high above $US75,000, according to Coindesk, and was fetching $US74,797 at 5.10am AEDT. Companies in the crypto industry also jumped, including trading platform Coinbase’s 22.7 per cent leap.
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Stocks that are expected to perform well under a second Trump term posted strong gains, with Trump Media & Technology Group up 9.3 per cent. Tesla leapt 14 per cent as CEO Elon Musk has supported Trump in his electoral campaign.
“The market response suggests that (a Trump victory) wasn’t fully priced in, what we’re seeing is an extension of the Trump trade that basically assumes a red sweep scenario where both the House and the Senate are controlled by the Republicans,” said Candice Bangsund, portfolio manager, Private Markets Solutions at Fiera Capital.
The small-cap Russell 2000 jumped 4.7 per cent to a near three-year high, as domestic-focused stocks expect to benefit from an easier regulatory and tax regime, as well as be less exposed to likely import tariffs.
