Donald Trump won Tuesday's election to be the 45th president of the United States, calling for Americans to "come together as one united people" in a speech in New York early Wednesday, while his Republican party retained control of both houses of Congress.
"We are going to rebuild our infrascture…and we will put millions of our people to work as we rebuild it," Trump said Wednesday. "We have a great economic plan," Trump said, pledging that as president he would "double our growth and have the strongest economy in the world." He continued, saying "we will get along with all other nations willing to get along with us." He also singled out for praise Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., who he said is "highly respected in Washington because he's as smart as you get."
Stock markets worldwide had reacted negatively to the election results, while U.S. stock and futures plunged. Once the U.S. markets opened for trading at 9:30 AM New York time, the volatility common after presidential elections was on display. The S&P 500 opened at 2125, then rose to 2145 just before 10:00, but by 11:00 it stood at 2142, up 2.4 points, or 0.11% from November 8′s close of 2139. The Dow Jones Industrials closed Tuesday at 18,332 but rose to 18,424 at the market open; as of 11:00 AM it was up 67 points, or 0.37%, to 18,400.
Following the election results the VIX volatility index futures rose, as did the price of gold, and the value of the Mexican peso plummeted. However, by 11:00 Wednesday morning the VIX had fallen 2.54 points, or 13.55%, to 16.20 from Tuesday's close of 18.74, indicating less volatility ahead, though it, too, showed wide swings on Wednesday.
