US Election 2016: Asia markets jolted by vote results

Asian stocks have fallen as Donald Trump looked increasingly likely to become new US president.

All regional markets are lower, with money flowing into safe haven stocks, gold and currencies including the yen.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed down by 5.4% while European and US markets are expected to drop when trading resumes on Wednesday.

Traders had expected a comfortable Hillary Clinton win.

Some analysts have likened the shock of a probable Trump victory to the Brexit result earlier this year.

However neither markets nor currencies have swung as wildly as they did after June’s EU referendum – and many Asian markets saw losses narrow towards the end of Wednesday trading.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong is trading 2.9% lower and the Shanghai Composite has lost 0.3%. Australia’s ASX 200 finished down 1.9% while the Kospi in South Korea ended 2.7% lower.

US stock futures fell sharply with the Dow Jones index expected to lose more than 4% – 800 points when it reopens. London’s FTSE 100 index is predicted to lose more than 3%.

Source: BBC