By Jethro Mullen,
Global stock markets are falling and currencies are making wild swings as initial results from the U.S. presidential election come in.
U.S. stock futures are tanking, with key battleground states too close to call between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
Dow futures have plummeted 500 points, or almost 3%, Wednesday night. Major indexes in Asia are falling by similar amounts.
Markets hate uncertainty — and many investors believe Donald Trump’s unpredictable nature and anti-trade stance could bring lots of global uncertainty if he wins the presidency. Trump was leading in at least three key swing states.
The Mexican peso has plunged more than 8% after swinging wildly all evening, as Trump started pulling ahead in key battleground states. Trump’s anti-Mexico rhetoric has affected the value of the peso for weeks.
“Shock and awe would aptly describe movements of global markets right now,” said Matt Simpson, a senior markets analyst at ThinkMarkets.
Investors turned to assets that are seen as safer bets in times of uncertainty. Gold jumped more than 2% and the Japanese yen surged more than 2% against the dollar.
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