Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
- Introduction: Markets still gripped by US election
- Reuters: Nikkei closes at 29-year high
- US election live: Biden and Trump virtually tied in Georgia as Pennsylvania tightens
The battle for the US Senate also took another twist last night, as my colleague Daniel Strauss explains:
Democratic hopes of wrenching control of the Senate from Republicans received an unexpected boost as it seems likely that two key races in the southern state of Georgia may be headed to runoff races.
One of the races is definitely headed to a second round in January, while a second Georgia contest and races in North Carolina and Alaska remain undecided, leaving the chamber now deadlocked 48-48. An outcome may now not be known until the new year.
Related: Senate boost for Democrats as two Georgia races look set for runoffs
European stock markets have dipped into the red this morning, after strong gains earlier in the week.
The FTSE 100 index is down 18 points, or 0.3%, at 5887 – which still leaves it up over 5.5% this week.
As the final votes are being tallied in the U.S. election, the accumulation of mail-in votes looks set to send Biden over the top, although President Trump is crying foul and has declared himself the winner. The Fed kept a very low profile at its meeting last night and markets are easing back after the blistering rally in nearly everything over the last two sessions…..
The fight is getting ugly, but courts seem to be largely rejecting the flurry of attempts that President Trump’s team is making to stop vote counts in various jurisdictions. The counts should be sufficiently clear ahead of the weekend for Biden to declare himself the winner, but will Trump concede?
