FTSE 100 LIVE: Global stocks, dollar and bitcoin soar as Donald Trump wins US election

Here’s what happening in equity markets this morning…

Equipment rental firm Ashtead – which has significant exposure to the US, trading there as Sunbelt Rentals – surged to the top of the FTSE 100.

Building materials group CRH was also sharply higher.

Lancashire Holdings gained as it said gross premiums written rose 9% in the first nine months of the year to $1.7bn and announced a special dividend of 75cents per share.

Prudential advanced as it posted an 11%increase in third-quarter new business profit to $2.3bn.

Burberry was boosted by an upgrade to ‘outperform’ from ‘sector perform’ at RBC Capital Markets.

Marks & Spencer advanced as it reported better-than-expected first-half profits as it said the food and clothing segments have now delivered market share growth for four consecutive years.

In the 26 weeks to 28 September, profit before tax and adjusting items rose 17.2% to £407.8m, coming in ahead of consensus expectations of £361m. Pre-tax profit was up 20.4% to �391.9m.

Pub chain JD Wetherpoon was higher after saying it was “confident of a reasonable outcome for the year” as it reported record sales but highlighted rising costs.

TBC Bank was also up after results, while AO World rose as the online electricals retailer said it has been given approval by the Financial Conduct Authority for its takeover of MusicMagpie.

On the downside, housebuilder Persimmon fell despite saying it was on track to hit full-year targets for housing completions this year after an in-line third-quarter performance, with demand helped by improvements in customer sentiment as interest rates begin to reduce and affordability improves.

Shares in Elon Musk’s company Tesla (TSLA) are up 13% in pre-market trading.

It comes as the billionaire was one of Donald Trump’s more vocal supporters in the US election, and investors believe he is set to to reap the benefits.

John Plassard, senior investment specialist at Mirabaud Group, said it is worth keeping a very close eye on Tesla’s share price when Wall Street trading begins in 4.5 hours.

Plassard said:

The money markets indicate there is a 97.5% chance that the Bank of England will cut UK interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Thursday.

This would take rates down from 5% to 4.75%.

The average house price across Britain will be 23.4%, or £84,000, higher in five years’ time, according to a forecast.

Savills expects the typical property value to reach £442,000 by the end of the five-year period to 2029, from £358,000 currently.

The property firm expects house prices to increase by 4%, or £14,500, on average next year alone.

Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills, said:

Shares in Donald Trump’s social media empire have surged by over a third in pre-market trading today.

Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) are up 36% in premarket trading after a volatile day yesterday.

The stock jumped after-hours after it surprised investors with a heavy loss and a fall in sales in a surprise stock market filing last night.

Donald Trump winning the US election “will adversely affect growth in Europe” analysts at Japanese bank Nomura said on Wednesday.

Nomura told clients:

The Mexican peso has fallen to its lowest level in two years as Trump declares victory and addresses jubilant supporters.

The peso tumbled against the US dollar as much as 3.5% to 20.79, the lowest level since August 2022.

It comes as the Republican has threatened to impose high tariffs on Mexican imports.

UK growth could halved in the event of Donald Trump becoming the next US president.

According to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), the protectionist measures planned by the Republican challenger for the White House would result in weaker activity, rising inflation and higher interest rates from the Bank of England.

Ahmet Kaya, a NIESR economist, said that, were Trump to go ahead with a 60% tariff on Chinese goods and a 10% tariff on goods from all other countries, the resulting trade war would lower UK growth by 0.7 percentage points and 0.5 percentage points in the first two years.

Kaya said:

NIESR has estimated that over two years the UK inflation rate would be three to four points higher while interest rates would be two to three points higher.

Following up from the below, Trump’s early gains have triggered a surge in the value of the US dollar. The greenback has jumped by around 1.5% against a basket of currencies, including strong gains against the pound and the euro.

A Trump victory leads to a stronger dollar, in many traders’ view, because some of his key policies are inflationary.

What does this win mean?

Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, explains:

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) surged to a record high this morning as growing confidence in Donald Trump’s return to the White House fuelled investor excitement in the cryptocurrency space.

The world’s most valuable digital asset has seen a remarkable rally, up over 8% as markets bet on Trump’s victory.

It comes as the Trump campaign positioned itself as the most pro-cryptocurrency in history, and traders expect a more supportive regulatory environment.

Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group, said:

He added:

Stocks in Asia were mixed overnight, with the Nikkei (^N225) rising 2.6% on the day in Japan, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) fell 2.8% in Hong Kong, ending a three-day rally, as investors sought safe-haven assets amid the uncertainties surrounding the US election.

The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was 0.1% down by the end of the session.

On Wall Street on Tuesday, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) index rose 1.2%, closing at 5,782.76, and the Dow Jones (^DJI) added 1% to 42,221.88. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) jumped 1.4% to finish at 18,439.17.

In after hours trading, the S&P 500 on Wall Street gained 1.1% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average also was up 1.3%. The Nasdaq Composite was 1.1% higher.

The price of bitcoin (BTC-USD) jumped more than 8% to a record $75,535.80, as investors bet on a victory for Trump, who has expressed support for cryptocurrencies.

Bond yields also surged, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury climbing to 4.47% from 4.28% on Tuesday.

Good morning, and welcome back to our markets live blog. As usual we will be bringing you all the latest market news and all that’s happening across the global economy.

Today we find out who will be the next US president will be, so it’s sure to be a busy one.

Here’s what else is on the agenda for today:

• 7am: Trading updates: TBC Bank Group, Braemar Shipping, Lancashire Holdings

• 7am: German factory orders for September

• 9am: Eurozone services PMI for October

• 9.30am: UK construction PMI for October

• 12pm: The weekly US mortgage application data

• 2.30pm: Treasury committee hearing with Rachel Reeves and top officials on the budget