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The market reaction to President-elect Donald J. Trump

By: Movement Staff
November 9, 2016

Market Update

U.S. financial markets have calmed down this morning after some wild pre-market volatility.

As it became clear late Tuesday that Donald J. Trump would become the next president of the United States, financial markets flew into a frenzy with stock futures and the value of the dollar plunging.

And while we can expect there to be some volatility over the next few months as the nation gears itself for a Trump presidency, there is nothing to suggest that housing will experience any substantial blowbacks from the Republican nominee's surprise victory.

In fact, I expect that interest rates will remain relatively low even as economic readings support a rate hike by Federal Reserve .

Why the market uproar?

Pin the cause of the market reaction on uncertainty, plain and simple.

Because Trump is an unproven politician with no policy track record, Wall Street recoiled late Tuesday. Investors sought sanctuary in foreign assets, such as the Japanese yen, which climbed by more than 2 percent.

Back on Wall Street, Dow futures fell nearly 900 points, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures slipped by as much as 5 percent, according to CNBC. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.716 percent around midnight.

Adding to the pandemonium, the value of the Mexican peso declined by almost 13 percent at one point, much of that activity stemming from Trump's blustering on trade with Mexico. Among his plans, Trump has vowed to tighten the belt on immigration and fortify the border with a wall he says Mexico will pay for.

It's OK to breathe

By Wednesday morning, the market's momentary panic seemed to calm a bit, sending stocks on a slight rebound. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all fluctuated between gains and losses in late morning trading. The 10-Year Treasury yield rose to more than 1.95 percent, showing investors had reversed course on the overnight flight to bonds.

It seems that Trump's conciliatory victory speech, which touched on unity and brokering strong relationships with foreign countries, eased some fears.

So what does all this mean for mortgages? While Trump has yet to lay out any concrete housing plan, I don't foresee his presidency sending any significant ripples through the housing market in the near term.

In the coming months expect a fair amount of market volatility; however, rates will remain relatively low, home prices will remain firm, the alarm will eventually subside and the fundamentals of housing won't change.

Author: Movement Staff

The Market Update is a weekly commentary compiled by a group of Movement Mortgage capital markets analysts with decades of combined expertise in the financial field. Movement's staff helps take complicated economic topics and turn them into a useful, easy to understand analysis to help you make the best decisions for your financial future.

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