UK investors got an early taste of it this morning, with the benchmark blue-chip FTSE 100 index jumping more than 1.5%, its biggest move in ages. That will help lift the value of our pensions and Stocks and Shares Isas.
Don’t get carried away, though. The stock market is hugely volatile and could just as easily crash if Trump says something reckless or controversial.
Which he inevitably will. About 100 times a day.
Trump isn’t just returning to the White House, the Republican Party also looks set for a clean sweep of Congress by winning both the Senate and House of Representatives.
Basically, that means the Republicans can do what they like, said Christian Gattiker, head of research at private bank Julius Baer. “Whatever Trump plans, he will be unstoppable.”
Gattiker predicts higher economic growth, higher inflation and higher interest rates as a result. “But first, there will be fireworks in financial markets. Not only due to the outcome but also due to the fact that there is a clear winner.”
The prospect of the Republicans and Democrats slugging it out over who actually won could have led to weeks of wrangling, uncertainty and potential violence.
That now seems unlikely sending stocks to the stars but stay tuned as Gattiker added: “The hours ahead will be extremely interesting to watch.”
Shares are likely to dip after their early spike as early bird investors bank their profits from the morning rally. But the longer-term outlook is promising.
Samy Chaar, chief economist at Lombard Odier, said a Trump sweep means a “more high-octane US economy” as the Republicans slash taxes and regulations to boost growth.
That will be the complete opposite of what the Labour Party has just done in its Budget, hiking taxes and potentially crushing growth along the way.
There’s a catch, though.
If the US economy booms as expected, inflation will rocket too and we won’t escape the impact.
UK consumer price inflation already looks set to increase, as chancellor Rachel Reeves taxes, borrows and spends to the tune of £70billion a year.
This sent UK government bond (gilt) yields rocketing past 4.5%, the level that finished former Tory PM Liz Truss. Now they’re climbing again, and so will our mortgage repayments, costing homeowners a small fortune.
The Bank of England may still cut rates from 5% to 4.75% at tomorrow’s meeting but that could be it as inflation returns with a vengeance.
So what else will happen?
Trump is a big fan of crypto-currency Bitcoin. It’s just hit a record high of $75,000 after jumping more than 10%.
Fellow crypto Dogecoin – a joke meme currency hyped by Tesla founder and Trump backer Elon Musk – has rocketed more than 20%. Crypto will remain insanely volatile, but Bitcoin could now be heading towards $100,000 for the first time ever.
There is one big loser from the Trump landslide – the euro has crashed against the US dollar.
Trump has vowed to slap 10% tariffs on European exports, in a huge blow for German motor manufacturers.
Worryingly, Trump has suggested slapping tariffs on UK exports too. Let’s hope his mate Nigel Farage can talk him out of that.
We shouldn’t be hit too hard, though. UK exports are largely in the form of services, which don’t attract tariffs.
The gold price has dipped slightly. The precious metal tends to rise in times of uncertainty, but there’s nothing uncertain about today’s result.
Trump is back. Brace yourselves.