US election live: Trump claims victory, says results give him “powerful mandate”

US election live: Trump claims victory, says results give him “powerful mandate”

Although the race has yet to be called in favor of the Republican candidate by most major networks and other news outlets, reported ballots out of a host of states indicate that he is on the verge of a victory.

One network, Fox News, called a victory for Trump over Democrat Kamala Harris after it projected he would win Wisconsin, a crucial swing state. Trump had garnered 277 electoral college votes, surpassing the 270 needed to win the election, while Harris had gained 226 votes, according to Fox News.

Fox News also showed the former president wrapping up the vote in several other key battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina. 

Meanwhile, coverage by the Associated Press and other regional networks showed Republicans had taken a majority in the Senate, the upper chamber of the US Congress, and were also on track to win the House of Representatives, raising the possibility of a Republican sweep in the 2024 elections.

Such a scenario would present an easier path for Trump to enact major policy changes if elected. 

US stock futures jumped on Wednesday as traders gauged an increasingly likely victory for Trump and the Republican Party potentially taking control of Congress.

Along with the spike in US stock futures, so-called “Trump trades” rallied on the prospect of a win for Trump.

The US dollar was on course for its biggest single-day uptick since March 2020 against its other major currency pairs, with the Mexican peso slumping in particular. Bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, also touched an all-time peak of $75,060.

In recent months, these assets have often been seen as proxies for the former president’s chances of securing a second four-year term in the White House.

Trump’s tariff and immigration plans have been viewed as possibly inflationary, which could bolster the greenback. At the same time, Trump has become an outspoken backer of the cryptocurrency industry, fueling bets on Bitcoin.

Elsewhere, the yield on the benchmark US 10-year Treasury bond reached its highest level since early July.

“Trump trades are in full swing as the counting of US ballots continues,” analysts at ING said in a note on Wednesday, adding that markets are also “pricing in” a clean sweep for Republicans in Congress.

(Ambar Warrick contributed reporting.)

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