Global markets and the Mexican peso rose on Tuesday after, opinion polls broadly showed Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton as the winner of the first US presidential debate.
Democrat Hillary Clinton represents continuity for the markets, with investors reacting positively to her performance on TV last night. Asian markets largely closed up, with both the FTSE and the DAX in positive territory on Tuesday morning.The presidential race has been neck and neck so fair, with the latest Reuters/Ipsos polling showing Clinton pulling into the lead by 4 percentage points.
Sean Callow, a senior currency analyst at Westpac in Sydney, commented:
“Markets started to call the debate for Hillary within the first 15 minutes or so, with the Mexican peso surging in what is probably its busiest Asian session in years.”
The Mexican peso was the strongest currency rally after the debate, up 1.7 percent against the dollar after plunging to record lows at the prospect of a Trump presidency. Trump’s anti-Mexican rhetoric has raised concerns that his presidency would threaten Mexico’s exports to the United States, its single biggest market.
“There’s a thing called ‘Trump thermometer’,” said David Bloom, London-based global head of forex strategy at HSBC.
“If you want to know who won the presidential debate, don’t go to Twitter or Facebook. Just look at the dollar/Mexico peso.”
Clinton’s performance was surprisingly strong given her recent bout of pneumonia, which caused opinion polls to sway in favour of Donald Trump. After a strong start from Trump, Clinton’s relentless questioning of his business knowledge and prior experience put her back in the lead.
The Shanghai Composite is up 0.60 percent, with the Nikkei 225 up 0.84 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.09 percent. The FTSE 100 also got off to a good start on Tuesday, rising 0.15 percent in early trade.
Brent crude was off a slight 16 cents at $47.19 a barrel, while U.S. crude dipped 8 cents to $45.85.