Dollar, global markets crash as Trump looks set to win US election

08:50 - 09 November 2016

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange the morning after Donald Trump's victory

US stock futures dropped by more than 4 percent, similar to what happened when the British voted to leave the European Union in June.

Al Jazeera reports that, as of 4:55 GMT, Trump was leading Hillary Clinton by 23 electoral college votes, with a tally of 232-209. 270 votes are needed to win.

ALSO READ: White House warns China will take export markets without TPP

The Mexican peso also went into near freefall when Trump won in the key state of Florida, dropping more than 10 percent against the dollar.

"There's a lot of panic in the market. It is definitely an outcome it was not expecting," Juan Carlos Alderete, a strategist at Banorte-IXE told Reuters news agency, according to Al Jazeera.

Global markets fear a Trump win could cause global economic and trade turmoil, a sentiment that is shared by the US Federal Reserve leading to the body refraining from raising interest rates.