As Britain’s stock market opened on Wednesday, November 9, the FTSE 100 depreciated by two per cent by 146 points to 6696.3 before narrowing losses to 6815.8.
However, the Pound made strong gains against the dollar and stock markets took a pummelling at the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency, The Evening Standard reports.
Sterling pushed 0.3 per cent higher on the back of dollar weakness to around 1.24 as investors abandoned US currency.
Investors poured money into so-called safe-haven currencies such as the Japanese yen as well as gold as the Republican looked to be on course for a shock victory.
Many traders had “priced-in” a win for Hillary Clinton, meaning that even a closer-than-expected race led to volatility. As the political landscape unfolded, one trader said the markets were “repricing everything”, suggesting the markets will be set for a hugely volatile day of trading.
The Mexican Peso slid to an all-time low against the dollar and share benchmarks tumbled in scenes compared to the hours after Britain’s vote to leave the EU.
