US And Global Markets Surge As Traders Cheer Donald Trump Lead Over Kamala Harris

The US Dollar has surged to a record high and so has Bitcoin as Donald Trump has won two of the seven swing states and is leading in the remaining five. Traders have backed Donald Trump and have bet big on his victory.

A Trump victory would be celebrated by the traders as his presidency would mean fresh tax cuts and higher tariffs. Even according to opinion polls, Donald Trump had consistently scored better on Economy and inflation compared to Kamala Harris.

The US Dollar surged to Rs 84.22 to the Indian Rupee. It has also peaked more than 1.5 per cent to 154.33 to the Yen, its highest since July. The Dollar also went up one per cent to the Euro and more than three per cent against the Mexican Peso.

Bitcoin too reached a new high - nearly $6,000 higher to reach a record $75,330.88. The previous all-time high was when it had reached $73,797.98 in March this year.

Donald Trump has promised that should he win, he would make the US the "bitcoin and cryptocurrency capital of the world" and also put Elon Musk in charge of a wide-ranging audit of governmental waste.

The US Election result also comes at a time when America's Central Bank is scheduled to deliver its latest policy decision where analysts believe it may cut the lending rates by 25 basis points. It had previously lowered the lending rate by 50 basis points in September this year.

The S&P 500 futures as well as the Nasdaq both went up by over one per cent as Wall Street too hopes for tax cuts and less corporate regulation with a Trump victory.

In Asia too, the US stock futures have surged on reports of Donald Trump's significant lead over Kamala Harris. BSE Sensex surged nearly 800 points as news of Donald Trump's lead started coming in, suggesting a likely win for him.

The NSE Nifty 50 was up 0.88% at 24,428.15 points as of 12:30 p.m. IST, while the BSE Sensex added 0.9% to 80,193.11.

All 13 major sectors gained. The IT index was the top sectoral gainer, rising about 3.5 per cent as data showed US services sector activity had accelerated unexpectedly in October. IT firms earn a significant share of their revenue from the US.

"Trump's plans to lower corporate taxes could also benefit Indian IT companies on the demand side, while China +1 trade will help many domestic sectors," according to Jefferies.

In Europe however, stock traders were less enthused with the news of Trump's lead as they feel it would likely ignite a global trade war and a Trump win would be seen as a threat to exports from Europe due to tariffs. The EUROSTOXX 50 went down 0.61 per cent, while the DAX fell by 0.55 per cent. The FTSE remained flat.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.68 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei rose 2.4 per cent. In currency markets, the dollar index surged 1.6 per cent to 105.19, the biggest daily rise since early 2023. The Euro slid 1.57 per cent to USD 1.0757, falling back from a one-month top of USD 1.0937 struck overnight.

(Inputs from AFP and Reuters)