Investing.com - U.S. stock futures were sharply lower on Wednesday morning after Donald Trump won the election to become the 45th president of the United States, shattering expectations for a victory by Democrat Hillary Clinton.
The blue-chip Dow futures index fell 359 points, or 1.96%, by 6:41AM ET, the S&P 500 futures index was down 46.5 points or 2.14%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures slumped 127.37 points, or 2.68%.
Overnight the S&P 500 futures index slumped 5%, hitting a trading limit. CME Group rules do not allow its stock-market futures to fall by more than 5%.
Market players had viewed Clinton as the candidate of the status quo and there is much uncertainty over what a Trump victory will mean for U.S. foreign policy, international trade deals and the domestic economy.
S&P 500 futures pared back losses after Trump struck a conciliatory tone in his acceptance speech, thanking Clinton for her years in public service and vowing to "deal fairly" with other nations.
The S&P 500 VIX Futures index was last up 18.52% in an indication of market fears over the prospects of a Trump presidency. The index had shot up 40% at one stage overnight, but retraced after Trump's acceptance speech.
Elsewhere, European shares were broadly lower amid a flight to safety around the globe. Asian stocks were hammered overnight, with Japan’s Nikkei closing down 5.4%.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was at 97.28, down 0.6% for the day after dropping to overnight lows of 95.91.
The dollar remained on the back foot amid expectations that that a Trump win could derail the Federal Reserve’s plans to hike interest rates in December.
Investors are currently pricing in a 66.8% chance of a rate hike at the Fed's December meeting; according to federal funds futures tracked Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
The Mexican peso plunged to record lows, with MXN/USD last at 0.050, down 8.24% for the day.
Meanwhile, oil prices recovered after slumping overnight as markets turned their attention to U.S. supply data due out later Wednesday.