Global investors are pricing in a stunning presidential comeback win for Donald Trump

Octa Broker explains early market reaction

What we know so far

Data from multiple news sources, including Fox News, AP, ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN have affirmed wins for Donald Trump in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. As of 14:00 UTC, Trump had claimed 276 electoral college votes, a development suggesting that the Republican presidential candidate will be the 47th president of the United States. With Trump’s historic comeback win sealed, it is the balance of power in the U.S. Congress that will determine how successfully and effectively the next president will be able to govern. So far, Republicans have won an extra seat in the Senate, but neither of the parties has a clear advantage in the battle for the House of Representatives. Overall, the counting of votes is still at a relatively early stage, and it could be hours or even days before a final outcome is known. The contest will close with results in Nevada, Michigan and Arizona. Trump is leading in these crucial swing states, having secured wins ahead of VP Kamala Harris in the four other states in this category: North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Still, judging by the latest market reaction, it appears reasonable to infer that global investors are pricing in a decisive victory for Donald Trump.  

What has been the impact so far

As of 14:00 UTC, the global markets reacted positively to Donald Trump’s victory. U.S. Treasury yields and U.S. stock benchmark indices rallied sharply, pushing the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) higher. Given that, it is no wonder other major fiat currencies plunged, with EURUSD and GBPUSD down 1.82% and 1.32%, respectively, while bitcoin hit a new all-time high of $75,410, as per Coinbase.  

‘Such a dramatic shift in market sentiment is explained by Trump’s official policies, or more precisely by the possible effect these policies are likely to have,’ says Kar Yong Ang, a financial market analyst at Octa Broker. ‘Generally, it all boils down to Trump’s tax, immigration, and trade policies, which differ greatly from what Harris proposed. The market perceives them as inflationary, which is why we are seeing a bullish impact in the U.S. dollar.’ 

The United States controls the world’s primary reserve currency, the U.S. dollar, so only a few countries will not feel the effect of the latest U.S. presidential and congressional elections. Major currencies are already experiencing the initial impact. ‘Major currencies are falling predominantly because the U.S. dollar is rising, but there is also a fear that Trump’s policy on tariffs may hit their domestic economies,’ Kar said.   

Indeed, the primary reason for such a dramatic decline in EURUSD, for example, is that investors fear that Trump’s policies on immigration and taxes will spur inflation and force the Federal Reserve (Fed) to tighten its monetary policy. This may expand the interest rate differential between the two economies, favouring the greenback. In addition, Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose tariffs on certain European goods like autos and chemicals. According to some analysts, Trump’s proposed 10% universal tariff on all U.S. imports may erode Europe’s GDP by up to 1.5% or about €260bn. A similar kind of impact may await the United Kingdom, where Trump’s blanket tariffs would hit billions of pounds of U.K. automotive, pharmaceutical, and liquor exports. It stands to logic that GBPUSD was down more than 1.3% today. 

For similar reasons, CNYUSD (Chinese renminbi / U.S. dollar spot rate) hit a 3-month high. ‘For the Chinese economy, the risks are even greater, as Trump promised to impose higher tariffs on Chinese goods. On top of that, under his administration, tensions are likely to grow over the CNYUSD exchange rate,’ comments Kar Yong Ang, a financial market analyst at Octa Broker. Although the currency policy of the future Trump Administration is unclear, in his interview with Bloomberg, he had this to say: ‘We have a big currency problem because the depth of the currency now in terms of strong dollar / weak yen, weak yuan, is massive.’  

Interestingly, the impact on the gold market has been relatively muted so far. As of 7:00 a.m. UTC, XAUUSD was down 1.2%, but historically, it is not a significant swing, especially given how much the U.S. dollar has strengthened. ‘Because Trump’s victory appears to be decisive, it lowers the probability of social tensions in the U.S., which is not a minor factor considering how fractious U.S. politics has become lately. Thus, XAUUSD is selling off, but I think there are bullish risks ahead as relations between China and the U.S. turn bitter,’ comments Kar Yong Ang. Indeed, Donald Trump will likely heighten the Sino-U.S. trade tensions, which is a positive factor for gold in general. In addition, Trump’s massive tax cuts will likely expand the U.S. fiscal deficit and may turn some strategic investors away from the U.S. dollar and into gold and bitcoin. In fact, BTCUSD hit a new all-time high on the news of Trump’s potential victory. He is seen as more actively supportive of cryptocurrencies than Harris.

In the short term, all the bullish dollar trades may temporarily reverse as traders buy the dips in EURUSD and GBPUSD in hope of a technical rebound. In the long term, however, the bearish pressure on these pairs will likely persist.