Election shocker sends stock markets into frenzy

The announcement of the US-presidential election victory of  Donald Trump has caused market volatility in both Asia and Europe in morning trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down by 5.4 percent in early trading, and markets in Europe were also down. Initial news of the upset, in which the Republican contender won unexpected electoral college victories in key states such as Pennsylvania, caused money to flow into gold, safe haven stocks and currencies such as the Japanese Yen. The US dollar slumped 3.8 percent against the Yen, while the euro opened Thursday morning up in value against the US dollar by 2 percent over the previous day. It was trading at over USD 1.12 mid-morning. “We are experiencing a similar night to Brexit,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior market analyst with London Capital Group. However, the drop in the London stock market of about 2 percent was still less severe than that which it experienced in the day following Brexit.