Hong Kong: Markets went into free fall Wednesday and the Mexican peso tanked as Donald Trump appeared to be moving into the lead in the race for the White House.
Safe haven assets rallied as investors went running for cover, with the yen and gold rushing higher.
Initial confidence that market favourite Hillary Clinton would win the knife-edge race was wiped out as results showed the firebrand tycoon appeared to be heading for victory in the must-win state of Florida.
Clinton is considered by many investors to be a safer bet than Trump, who is seen as a loose cannon with policies many fear could wreck the world’s top economy.
“Put your seat belts on because this is going to be a bumpy ride,” Chad Morganlander, a money manager at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. in Florham Park, New Jersey told Bloomberg News.
“Investors will be moving in a chaotic fashion to get ahead of the information flow.”
Tokyo ended the morning session 2.2 per cent down, having been up more than one per cent at one point, while Hong fell 2.1 per cent and Shanghai sank one per cent.
Sydney gave up 1.7 per cent, Seoul shed 1.7 per cent and Singapore dived 1.4 per cent. There were also losses of more than one per cent for Taipei and Jakarta.
Futures on the Dow on Wall Street plunged 2.6 per cent.
Tomoichiro Kubota, a senior analyst at Matsui Securities in Tokyo, said: “Overall, the market has priced in a Hillary victory by about 80 to 90 percent. If Trump wins, we can’t deny the possibility of wild moves.”
The Mexican peso - which was battered by Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric earlier in the campaign - tumbled towards record lows against the dollar.
The greenback at one point hit 19.8619 pesos up almost 10 percent from its earlier low and close to its record of 19.93 pesos.
The peso is considered a proxy of Trump’s chances because of his anti-Mexican rhetoric - including his pledge to remove undocumented immigrants, build a border wall and tear up a trade deal.
However the dollar tumbled against the yen as investors rushed into the Japanese unit, which is considered a safe bet in times of uncertainty and turmoil. The greenback was at 102.40 yen, down from above 105 Tuesday.
The euro also rose one per cent against the dollar, while gold soared 1.6 per cent to $1,305.
Oil prices plunged, with WTI sinking 3.3 per cent and Brent 2.8 per cent lower.
Key figures
Tokyo: Nikkei 225: DOWN 2.2 per cent at 17,788.90 (break)
Hong Kong: Hang Seng: DOWN 2.1 pe rcent at 22,427.87
Shanghai: Composite: DOWN 1.0 per cent at 3,115.74
Dollar/Mexican peso: UP at 19.8078 from 18.6152 pesos late Tuesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2406 from $1.2378 Tuesday
Euro/pound: DOWN at 89.30 pence from 89.03 pence
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1150 from $1.1020
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 102.40 yen from 105.14 yen
Oil: West Texas Intermediate: DOWN $1.50 at $43.48 per barrel
Oil: Brent North Sea: DOWN $1.29 at $44.75 per barrel
New York: Dow: UP 0.4 per cent at 18,332.43 (close)
London: FTSE 100: UP 0.5 per cent at 6,843.13 (close)
