FTSE 100 and other global shares soar after Donald Trump's victory | The Independent
European stocks rose on Thursday following large gains in Asia and on Wall Street, as exuberance shot through the markets at the prospect of Donald Trump as the next president of the United states.
Anyone who bought German or French shares during Trump's victory speeh on Wednesday morning has seen a 4 per cent boost in their value.
The jump defies the doom-laden predictions of many City analysts who predicted a huge sell-off, if the Republican was victorious.
The consensus view that Trumps unpredictability and protectionist economic policies would spook world markets has prooved incorrect as shares have rebounded strongly.
The FTSE 100 jumped up 1 per cent within minutes, before falling back. It is now around 150 points above its level of the day before Tuesday's election.
Banks gained on the propect of relaxations on Wall Street regulation, with Barclays up 5 per cent and RBS rising 6 per cent. Trump's promises to boost defence spending saw BAE Systems add another 6 per cent to its strong gains from yesterday. Mining shares also rose. Futures contracts for US equities rose sharply on Thursday, suggesting Wall Street will rise sharply when the New York Stock Exchange opens.
Asian equities saw big gains on Thursday, joining a goldrush across world markets as the shock of a Trump' victory was replaced by hopes his plan to kickstart the US economy will succeed.
Trading floors were awash in red on Wednesday as investors reacted to news that the firebrand tycoon had defeated establishment candidate, Hillary Clinton, upending expectations.
However, a reassuring victory speech - followed by calls by Clinton and President Obama to get behind Trump - provided some encouragement to traders, sending risk assets rallying.
Most markets in Asia either wiped out or clawed back most of the previous day's losses, while the dollar pushed higher.
The currency had come under pressure as traders worried that Trump's negative impact on the economy would cause the Federal Reserve to hold off an interest rate rise, but analysts said those worries had abated for now.
Tokyo closed up 6.7 percent, with a plunging yen also providing support. The dollar dallied with 106 yen before easing slightly, well up from Wednesday's low of 101.20 yen.
In the afternoon Hong Kong gained 2.1 percent and Shanghai closed 1.4 percent up. Sydney closed 3.3 percent higher, Seoul jumped two percent and Taipei put on 2.4 percent.
There were also gains of more than one percent in Wellington, Singapore and Manila.
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