Trump Victory Leads To Choppy Trading On Wall Street - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - While the futures had been pointing to a sharply lower open on Wall Street, stocks have shown a lack of direction in early trading on Wednesday. The major averages have been bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

Currently, the major averages are all in negative territory. The Dow is down 14.14 points or 0.1 percent at 18,31860, the Nasdaq is down 28.21 points or 0.5 percent at 5,165.28 and the S&P 500 is down 8.09 points or 0.4 percent at 2,131.47.

The choppy trading comes as traders digest Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's surprise victory in yesterday's election.

Trump managed to pull an upset over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton after winning several key battleground states, including Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

Clinton conceded the race to Trump in a phone call early this morning and is scheduled to deliver a speech to supporters shortly.

Trump vowed to unite the country in his victory speech, but investors remain wary about how some of his policy proposals will play out in reality.

The surprise victory by the billionaire-turned-politician led many investors to flock to safe haven assets such as sovereign bonds, gold, and the Japanese yen.

Despite the lackluster performance by the broader markets, many of the major sectors are showing substantial moves on the day.

Biotechnology stocks have shown a significant move to the upside, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 5.9 percent. The index has reached its best intraday level in a month.

Gold, steel, pharmaceutical, and financial stocks are also seeing considerable strength, while utilities, semiconductor, and internet stocks have come under pressure.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region saw considerable weakness during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index plummeted by 5.4 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plunged by 2.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have turned higher as the day has progressed. While the French CAC 40 Index has inched up by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index are both up by 0.3 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have fallen sharply in reaction to Trump's victory in the presidential election. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, has jumped by 10.6 basis points to 1.968 percent.