Riskier currencies jump as Clinton gets nod in debate

27/09/2016 14:39 AST

The yen dropped and higher-risk currencies surged Tuesday as markets appeared to give Hillary Clinton the edge over Donald Trump in the first US presidential debate. Investors had moved into assets seen as safe bets, such as the yen, ahead of the highly anticipated showdown between the pair who are locked in a neck and neck race for the White House.

But as they clashed over the economy, trade and diplomacy, traders pushed back into riskier assets.

“The peso, Canadian dollar... and Australian dollar are all surging — very much a relief rally in risk assets,” Sean Callow, a senior currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. in Sydney, told Bloomberg News.

“In FX markets, the most obvious trade to anticipate a Trump presidency is to short the peso.” The Mexican currency rebounded off a record low, surging nearly two percent to 19.5047 against the dollar.

The unit has slumped ahead of the debate as the prospect of a Trump presidency fanned concerns about the Republican candidate’s pledge to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement if he wins.

The dollar jumped to 100.84 yen, from 100.30 yen in New York while the euro also rose on the Japanese unit to 113.36 yen, from 112.87 yen. The euro was at $1.1244 against $1.1254. In other trading, the Canadian and Australian dollars each jumped 0.4 percent against the US unit, while the rupiah gained 0.7 percent, the Taiwan dollar jumped 0.6 percent, and the Malaysian ringgit added 0.3 percent.

“Trump is largely regarded as a market negative and certainly him doing quite poorly in the debate would reassure a lot of investors,” said Angus Nicholson, a Melbourne-based market analyst at IG Ltd.

Arab News