Stocks and bitcoin surge ahead after Trump wins the White House race

The US stock market, Elon Musk’s Tesla, banks and bitcoin all stormed higher as investors bet on what Donald Trump’s return to the White House will mean for the economy and world.

Among the losers were solar-power companies and potentially anyone worried about higher inflation.

The S&P 500 was up by 2.2% in afternoon trading and on track to top its all-time high set last month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1,382 points, or 3.3%, as of 12:59 pm Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 2.5% higher.

The US stock market has historically tended to rise regardless of which party wins the White House, with Democrats scoring bigger average gains since 1945. But Republican control could mean big shifts in the winners and losers underneath the surface, and investors are adding to bets built earlier on what the higher tariffs, lower tax rates and lighter regulation that Trump favours will mean.

“The markets are scrambling to figure out what happens next, but for the time being, the market is pricing in a higher growth and higher inflation outlook,” Peter Esho of Esho Capital said.

How much change Trump will be able to effect is likely to depend on whether his fellow Republicans win control of Congress, and that’s still to be determined. That could leave room for snaps back in some of Wednesday’s big knee-jerk movements.

Nevertheless, the market is cleaving between clear winners and losers following Trump’s dramatic win.