Wall Street’s main indexes soared to record highs, as Republican Donald Trump won the 2024 US presidential election in a remarkable comeback four years after he was voted out of the White House.

The S&P 500 rose 2.1 per cent in mid-afternoon trade, the Dow Jones surged 1345 points, or 3.2 per while the Nasdaq jumped by 2.4 per cent. The Australian sharemarket is set to edge lower, with futures at 4.52am AEDT pointing to a slip of 14 points, or 0.2 per cent, at the open. The ASX added 0.8 per cent on Wednesday.

Wall Street is anticipating lower taxes, deregulation and a US president who is quick to sound off on everything from the stock market to the dollar, even though tariff hikes could bring challenges in the form of higher deficit and inflation.

The Republican’s win powered a rally in Trump trades, as US Treasury yields surged and the US dollar gained. The Australian dollar was 1 per cent lower at 65.72 US cents at 5.07am AEDT.

Trump has pledged to make the country “the crypto capital of the planet” and create a “strategic reserve” of bitcoin. The price of bitcoin hit an all-time high above $US75,000, according to Coindesk, and was fetching $US74,797 at 5.10am AEDT. Companies in the crypto industry also jumped, including trading platform Coinbase’s 22.7 per cent leap.

Stocks that are expected to perform well under a second Trump term posted strong gains, with Trump Media & Technology Group up 9.3 per cent. Tesla leapt 14 per cent as CEO Elon Musk has supported Trump in his electoral campaign.

“The market response suggests that (a Trump victory) wasn’t fully priced in, what we’re seeing is an extension of the Trump trade that basically assumes a red sweep scenario where both the House and the Senate are controlled by the Republicans,” said Candice Bangsund, portfolio manager, Private Markets Solutions at Fiera Capital.

The small-cap Russell 2000 jumped 4.7 per cent to a near three-year high, as domestic-focused stocks expect to benefit from an easier regulatory and tax regime, as well as be less exposed to likely import tariffs.

“The next 6-12 month outlook for small caps to have a catch up trade is absolutely intact,” said Sean Gallagher, global head of Lazard’s Small Cap Equity Platform.

The VIX, a measure of market volatility, dropped nearly 5 points to its lowest since September.

Most of the S&P 500’s sectors were trading higher. Financials led the gains with a 5.5 per cent surge to hit a record high, while the KBW bank index was set for its best day in four years.

The Energy, Industrials and Consumer Discretionary sectors were up around 3 per cent each.

However, rate sensitive real estate and Utilities slipped as investors assessed the chances of Trump’s policies boosting inflation and dampening the rate-cut outlook, which has been a key driver of Wall Street’s recent rally.

The central bank is widely expected to ease benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points on Thursday. But, traders have begun to trim bets on the cuts expected next year.

“That sharp (move) up in Treasury yields has the potential to weigh on stock market valuations,” Bangsund said.

Strong gains were also seen in shares of cryptocurrency companies, energy firms and prison operators, while renewable energy shares fell.

Market focus turned to whether the Republican party could maintain a majority in the House of Representatives after gaining control of the US Senate.

“Markets hate uncertainty and now that the election is officially over, stocks are soaring today,” said Ryan Detrick at Carson Group.

“Optimism over tax cuts, a still dovish Fed, and a potentially better economy are part of it, but the reality is the economy has been quite solid all year, so this really isn’t anything new. Back to your regularly scheduled bull market is how we see it.”

Reuters, AP

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