The dollar surged and US equities rallied on the last full day of campaigning yesterday as investors grew more confident of a Hillary Clinton victory despite polls that showed her with only the narrowest of leads over Republican rival Donald Trump.
The rally came at the end of a ferocious race that has deeply divided the US and alarmed its allies as Mr Trump stirred up raw populist sentiments and Mrs Clinton campaigned under the shadow of a federal investigation.
Financial markets were buoyed by the FBI’s announcement on Sunday that it would not change its recommendation against prosecuting Mrs Clinton for improperly using a personal email server while secretary of state. That sent the dollar up nearly 1 per cent against the euro. The S&P 500 was set to end a nine-day losing streak – its longest since 1980.
The two candidates spent election eve blitzing swing states where Mrs Clinton’s poll leads were, in many cases, within the margin of error. The final day average of national polls showed her with a narrow 3.2 per cent advantage.
Mrs Clinton’s camp has been encouraged by early voting results, particularly in Florida, where analyst Michael McDonald at the University of Florida said Hispanic turnout was up nearly 87 per cent from four years ago. Florida is the largest of the swing states and Mrs Clinton has held a tenuous lead there.
But early voting data also showed lower-than-expected African-American turnout in North Carolina, another Clinton bellwether, and Mr Trump’s camp touted data in big Midwestern states showing impressive returns from white voters. More than 42m Americans have cast their vote before today’s election day, shattering previous records.
Despite Mrs Clinton’s being cleared of wrongdoing in the email case by FBI director James Comey, Mr Trump continued to hammer on the issue confounding suggestions by aides that he would take a more upbeat message into voting day.
“Nobody in this room can believe what’s going on with the FBI and the Department of Justice,” Mr Trump told a Florida rally. “Hillary Clinton is the most corrupt person ever to seek the office of the presidency.”
Mrs Clinton attempted to focus on her theme of bringing the country together after one of the most divisive races in recent history. “These splits, these divides that have been not only exposed but exacerbated by the campaign on the other side are ones that we really do have to bring together,” she said.
Despite the two being the most unpopular nominees in modern history, they continued to draw big crowds. Mr Trump was due in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Michigan before polls open, while Mrs Clinton began the day in Pittsburgh before going to Michigan, Philadelphia and North Carolina.
Swing state polling indicates that the race is tightest in New Hampshire and Nevada, and the heavyweight states of Florida and North Carolina.
Reporting by Lindsay Whipp in Ann Arbor and Courtney Weaver in Manchester
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