Investors scramble to shift positions after Trump-Harris debate
Al Jazeera
The US presidential race slated for November is very much on investors’ minds.
Investors are scrambling to shift their positioning following the closely-watched debate between US Republican Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, as betting markets swung in Harris’s favour after the event.
Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, the company that owns Truth Social, fell 13 percent on Wednesday afternoon, while other so-called Trump trades such as Bitcoin and crypto stocks retreated. Solar stocks, seen as benefitting from a Harris win, rallied and healthcare shares fell.
In a combative debate late Tuesday, Trump and Harris clashed over everything from the economy to immigration, as each sought a campaign-altering moment in what has been a closely-fought race.
Their exchanges left investors with few new details on United States issues that could sway markets, including tariffs, taxes and regulation. But online prediction markets showed bets on a stronger likelihood of a Harris win in November: Harris’s odds in PredictIt’s 2024 presidential general election market improved to 55 cents from 53 cents before the debate, while Trump’s odds slipped from 52 cents to 47 cents.
There is a “general view that Harris won the debate,” said Alvin Tan, head of Asia FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets in Singapore. “It’s obviously not a slam dunk for Harris, but the chances of a Trump victory have slipped a bit.
