Global equity markets slumped last Friday, November 4, on investor concerns about the outcome of Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election.
Election-related anxiety sent the U.S. dollar to a more than one-month low against the safe-haven Swiss franc, while weakness in oil prices raised concerns about low inflation and pushed U.S. Treasury prices higher, Reuters reports.
A dismal outing for Asian and European share indexes weighed on MSCI’s 47-country “All World” index .MIWD00000PUS, which was down 0.43 percent, finding little support from Wall Street.
The S&P 500 .SPX ended lower for a ninth straight day, the longest losing streak for the benchmark index in more than 35 years, as investors stayed on edge ahead of the uncertain U.S. election.
Investors have been unnerved by signs of a tightening presidential race between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump.
Clinton had been thought to have a clear lead until the re-emergence last week of a controversy over her use of a private email server while secretary of state.
“Investors are uncertain about the outcome of the election, and they have grown more uncertain since last Friday,” said Walter Todd, chief investment officer with Greenwood Capital in Greenwood, South Carolina.
An upbeat jobs report did little to distract investors from election-related worries. U.S. stocks posted modest gains as of the afternoon but lost steam to sell off into the close.
“People just decided to liquidate going into the close to reduce exposure in case any more news hits over the weekend,” said Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 42.39 points, or 0.24 percent, to 17,888.28, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 3.48 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,085.18 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 12.04 points, or 0.24 percent, to 5,046.37.
