'Trump slump' begins in Wall Street

New York - Stock futures plunged overnight resulting from the election bout between Trump and Clinton

Wall Street stocks rebounded slightly early on Wednesday from a mixed open following Donald Trump's shock win in the US presidential election, as hopes of a pro-business agenda partially blunted the higher uncertainty.
Stock futures plunged overnight as results suggested the unpredictable Trump was on his way to a defeat of Democrat Hillary Clinton, who had been viewed as a steady hand.
But worries about Trump were offset by hopes that his pledges to cut taxes, curb regulation and increase infrastructure spending could boost growth.
About 30 minutes into trading the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up less than 0.3 per cent at 18,378.55 points.
The broad-based S&P 500 was up 0.1 per cent to 2,142.68 points, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was flat at 5,196.08 points.
Analysts said the election outcome opens a period of uncertainty in the US after Trump's campaign favored a variety of potentially radical steps, including tearing up international trade agreements, replacing the head of the Federal Reserve and pursuing a more friendly relationship with Russia.
JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade, said the outcome likely ushers in a period of volatility as markets try to assess whether Trump will follow through on these pledges.
"What people promise on the campaign trail and what actually happens are two different things," Kinahan said. "So we're still speculating until he actually takes office and the new Congress comes."
"It's now looking like a bad day, but no sense of panic."

Losses pared
Conciliatory comments from Trump in the aftermath of his stunning victory helped global stock markets erase a large chunk of their earlier losses on Wednesday. In Europe, Germany's DAX was down 0.7 per cent at 10,408 points while the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was 0.1 per cent lower at 6,838 points.
"That the reaction seen thus far appears to have been much more tempered is probably due to the emollient and conciliatory nature of Trump's acceptance speech, and the fact that there was always that nagging doubt that the pollsters may well be wrong," said Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index closed 5.4 per cent lower, recouping some losses, at 16,251.54 points. Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed 2.2 per cent lower to 22,415.19 points while the main index in Shanghai fell 0.6 per cent to 3,128.77 points.
South Korea's trade ministry held an emergency meeting to review prospects of US trade policies after the presidential elections. Top officials from Japan's central bank and finance ministry met on Wednesday to discuss how to cope with the gyrations in financial markets. - AFP/AP

• Battle For White House