India’s stock markets had been flagging for the last few weeks, but today they received support from foreign shores to end solidly in the green.
The Indian and US stock markets have risen sharply following Donald Trump’s victory in the US Presidential elections. Indian markets had opened when results from the US had just started streaming in, and rose steadily through the day to end up 1.13 percent.
The US markets have similarly opened positively to the news of Donald Trump’s victory. The NASDAQ is up 2.36 percent in early trade, while Dow Jones is up more than 3 percent.
Trump’s victory comes after the bruising campaign that saw pollsters say the result was essentially a coin-flip, with both sides being equally likely to win the election. But Donald Trump appeared to win easily in the end, snapping up the required 270 electoral college votes even before all states had declared results, and even managed to win the popular vote, which is the first for any Republican candidate since 2004. Additionally, the Republicans have won the Senate and look poised to win the House, which could result in a clean sweep for the party.
The stock markets seemed to be enthused with these results, and perhaps for good reason. In his first term, Trump had cut down on regulations that he thought were preventing the growth of businesses, and looked to create a more positive business outlook in the country. He’d also imposed tariffs on foreign goods that enabled US companies to better compete with cheaper alternatives from abroad. This time, Trump had been backed by several prominent entrepreneurs and VCs including Elon Musk, Marc Andreessen, Naval Ravikant and others. Elon Musk, in particular, had donated millions of dollars to the Trump campaign, and himself camped in the swing state of Pennsylvania to run his outreach efforts.
In his new term, Trump will look to cut down in government spending, and incentivize the private sector to make up for the gains in productivity. He’ll also look to stimulate American businesses through tax cuts and other incentives. Trump has also had a tough stance towards China, so any tariffs he imposes on China could make India appear like a more favourable investment destination in comparison. It remains to be seen if Donald Trump’s second term lives up to its promise of helping businesses and entrepreneurship, but stock markets seem to already be celebrating his record win in the US Presidential Polls.