Stocks and the dollar posted their biggest gains in weeks on Monday after the FBI said it stood by an earlier recommendation that no criminal charges were warranted against Democrat Hillary Clinton.
The news lifted a cloud over Clinton’s presidential campaign two days before the US election and put Wall Street firmly on track to snap a nine-day losing streak - its longest in more than 35 years.
Asian stocks excluding Japan rose 0.9 per cent, European stocks were up more than 1 per cent in early trading and US futures pointed to a rise of 1.3 per cent at the open. That would be the biggest rise in two months.
Many of the safe-haven assets that had performed so strongly last week when polls showed Republican candidate Donald Trump closing the gap turned the other way. Gold, bonds and the Swiss franc all fell on Monday.
“Markets are pricing in a win for Clinton,” said Kathleen Brooks, Research Director at City Index.
“If Clinton wins we could see a continued recovery in risky assets like stocks and the Mexican peso. There could be another sell-off in gold and US Treasuries, pushing up bond yields, which could also be dollar-positive.”
Europe’s index of leading 300 shares rose 1.2 per cent, the strongest rally in three weeks, with a 2 per cent rise in financials leading the way. Britain’s FTSE 100 and Germany’s DAX were up 1.3 per cent.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.9 per cent, its biggest rise in three weeks. Japanese shares rose 1.2 per cent, the biggest rise in seven weeks.
The biggest winner was the Mexican peso, which has acted as something of a bellwether of sentiment as Trump’s proposed policies are considered deeply negative for the country. It rose around 2 per cent to a 1-1/2 week high of 18.63 per dollar.
Investors had been unnerved by signs of a tightening presidential race.
Trump’s stance on foreign policy, trade and immigration has unnerved financial markets, while Clinton is seen as the status quo candidate.
Volatility index sinks
The shift in sentiment was reflected by the steep fall in anticipated market volatility. The VIX index, dubbed the "fear index” of U.S. stocks, posted its biggest one-day fall in over four months. That followed a record stretch of nine consecutive daily increases.
Gold, which also rose every day last week to a one-month high above $1,300 an ounce, fell 1.3 per cent, its biggest drop in over a month, to $1,282.
The latest election news also allowed investors to shift some of their focus back to US economic fundamentals, and the likelihood of an interest rate hike next month after a government report on Friday showed solid jobs gains and a rise in wages in October.
Bond prices retreated as risk appetite surged across the board. US 10-year Treasury yields were up 3 basis points at 1.82 per cent, benchmark euro zone yields were also up 3 basis points at 0.16 per cent and UK yields were up 6 basis points at 1.20 per cent.
In the currency market, the dollar jumped 1.3 per cent against the yen to 104.50 yen, its biggest rise since July, while the euro dropped 0.75 per cent to $1.1050.
The Swiss franc fell around 1 per cent against the dollar to 0.98 per dollar, its biggest fall since late August.
Oil prices rose, with traders citing opportunistic buying following sharp declines in the previous week on weak fundamentals.
Brent crude oil futures were trading at $46.22 per barrel, up 1.4 per cent. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 1.7 per cent at $44.80 a barrel.