Asian markets slide as Donald Trump looks set for victory
It's a little under two hours until the London Stock Exchange opens, but here's a hint of what might be coming: Asian markets were universally lower this morning as Donald Trump looked set for a White House victory.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 2.8 per cent, at 22,261 points, while Japan's Nikkei plummeted 5.2 per cent to 16,281 points.
In China, markets were less reactive – after a sharp slide before lunch, the Shanghai Composite settled around 3,138 points, just 0.3 per cent lower, while the Shenzhen Composite was 0.2 per cent lower, at 10,740 points.
"Lightning appears to have struck twice as Trump is set for an unexpected victory, following the shock Brexit vote earlier in the year," said Geoffrey Yu, head of the UK investment office at UBS Wealth Management.
"Pollsters, pundits and markets probably need to take stock, figure out how they got 2016 so wrong and what this portends for 2017 as the electoral calendar is also quite crowded.
"We should put these market moves in perspective – a near certain chance of a Hillary Clinton victory was priced in, so the pullback on this scale should is not a total surprise."
Meanwhile, the Mexican peso plummeted 11 per cent as the spectre of Trump's wall became increasingly real…