Millions of Americans decide who will be their next President today. Polls suggest Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, the first female nominee of a main party, will win. However it is close – with Clinton just five points ahead of Republican rival Donald Trump, according to the Economist/You Gov polls on November 7. The accuracy of polls has been questioned however, as previous high profile examples show that polls results can be different from the outcome of the vote – with the prime example of this being the UK’s EU referendum in June.
Neither candidate has led a blemish-free campaign. It remains unknown how many votes Clinton may have lost before the FBI investigation cleared her of allegations of misuse of a private server during her time as Secretary of State. Clinton’s health has also been speculated about in the media.
Trump has promised an aggressive immigration policy which his critics called xenophobic, and has preyed on many low-income Americans’ fears about globalisation. There have also been several sex scandals, the most notable of which was the release of a video in which he bragged about using his notoriety to excuse the sexual abuse of women.
As the world’s largest economy, the candidate who wins the US presidential election does not only affect domestic policy, but the rest of the world economy too.
Investors appear to be pricing in a victory for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the US election this week as the S&P 500 rallied yesterday following nine days of falls. There were broad gains in stock markets in Europe too.
There are sectors of the stock market which have been damaged in the US election campaign. Healthcare stocks have been devalued following Clinton’s promise to fight drug price hikes, and Trump’s anti-globalisation stance will harm global traders.
Yet whoever becomes the leader of the US, there will be opportunities for savvy investor. There are three key policies on which Clinton and Trump share the same views, according to NN Investment Partners. They are infrastructure reform, increased military spending and cyber security for government services.
Just hours before the start of the US election, we took to the streets of London to gather people’s views on the outcome – and how a new President of the United States may affect life in the UK.