US Dollar and Bitcoin have reached their respective records as the political scenario witnessed some serious events; Donald Trump won two of the seven swing states and leads in five others. Traders have rallied behind Trump, betting on the economic implications of his possible victory.
Traders believe that Trump’s triumph would translate to new tax cuts and higher tariffs. All opinion polls showed that Trump would perform better on issues concerning economics and inflation than Kamala Harris.
The US Dollar hopped to Rs 84.22 against the Indian Rupee and rallied over one and a half percent to 154.33 against the Yen for the first time since July. The Dollar also gained one percent against the Euro and more than three percent against the Mexican Peso.
Bitcoin also set a new standard, surging nearly $6,000 to a record of $75,330.88, even beating its previous all-time high of $73,797.98 in March this year. If re-elected, Trump promised he would position the United States as the “bitcoin and cryptocurrency capital of the world” and appoint Elon Musk to oversee a “root-to-branch” audit of government waste.
The election results coincide with the policy decision from America’s Central Bank. Analysts expect a possible 25-basis-point cut in lending rates following a 50-basis-point reduction in September.
The stock market surged over one percent, with Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures on the rise. Wall Street is looking forward to tax cuts and reduced corporate regulation with a Trump win. Asian markets also looked bright, with US stock futures rising on news of Trump’s massive lead. The BSE Sensex surged nearly 800 points, showing optimism about a possible Trump win.
By 12:30 p.m. IST, the NSE Nifty 50 was up 0.88% at 24,428.15 points, while the BSE Sensex added 0.9% to reach 80,193.11 points. All 13 major sectors were green, with the IT index emerging as the top performer, up around 3.5% following better-than-expected data on US services sector activity in October. Indian IT firms, which earn a significant portion of their revenues from the US, will be the direct beneficiaries of Trump’s proposed corporate tax cuts.
European stock traders reacted cautiously to Trump’s lead, fearing a global trade war and tariffs that could hurt European exports. The EUROSTOXX 50 fell by 0.61%, the DAX declined by 0.55%, and the FTSE was flat.
MSCI’s broadest index excluding Japan declined 0.68% in the Asia-Pacific region, while Japan’s Nikkei gained 2.4%. The dollar index advanced 1.6% to 105.19, the biggest one-day rise since early 2023. The Euro declined 1.57% to USD 1.0757, falling from a one-month high of USD 1.0937 touched overnight.
