The newly elect president Donald Trump’s victory speech has reassured investors and calmed down markets which suffered sharp losses early Wednesday.
European markets regained ground, the FTSE 100 rebounded after a two percent slump at opening. It was down just 12 points at 6,830.52 as of 9:41 am. The German DAX and French CAC 40 also trimmed morning losses, down just one percent.
"His [Trump – Ed.] victory speech helped turn markets a bit," Brian Jacobsen, chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Funds Management in Menomonee Falls told Reuters.
"He sounded conciliatory and didn't bring up tariffs or the wall, which were probably two of the market's biggest concerns," he added.
US stock index futures came well off after sinking in the overnight session into Wednesday, the S&P 500 closed almost one percent higher at 2,139.56. Dow futures were about 200 points lower after falling briefly 800 points.
The US dollar has strengthened against major currencies after plunging almost two percent against the Japanese yen.
The Russian ruble enjoyed the limelight of Trump’s win, trading almost one percent up against the dollar at 63.3, and 69.73 to the euro.
Russia’s dollar-traded RTS index was over two percent in the green with the ruble-traded MICEX up 1.3 percent.
The Mexican peso plunged more than 13 percent to an all-time low against the dollar in its biggest daily move in two decades.
"A lot of Trump's negative geopolitical rhetoric was concentrated around Mexico and trade with Mexico and tearing up the NAFTA agreement, so the peso just become this natural barometer of the election," said Deutsche Bank EM FX Strategist Gautam Kalani.
The major selloff in Asia sent Japan's Nikkei 225 down 5.4 percent. In Hong Kong the Hang Seng index closed 2.3 percent lower. The Shanghai Composite lost 0.3 percent.
"The initial reaction in markets was violent, but gradually we have seen that risk off move retrace quite significantly," said Roger Douglas, a senior portfolio manager at Deutsche Asset Management in London.
"It could be people looking for signs of moderation in his policy, or people starting to wonder whether that moderation will start to come through in the near future."
Gold enjoyed its biggest daily rally since the Brexit vote jumping five percent to $1,337 an ounce as investors rushed to safe-haven assets.