At last, voting day is here!
It’s Election Day for 226 million Americans today, with 50 million estimated to have already cast their ballot. The most recent surveys place Clinton up by 3% in the popular vote, giving her around a 70% chance of winning the presidency. Bloomberg estimates this morning that foreign exchange markets are pricing the likelihood of the Democratic candidate taking the White House at 58%. Although financial markets appear relatively calm this morning, stock markets have hung onto their gains from Monday and the U.S. dollar remains essentially where we left off yesterday, a certain measure of nervousness appears to be in the air. The recent surprise Brexit vote likely remains a clear memory for many investors.
There is some economic news to watch for as we await election results. First, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans will be giving two speeches today, the first at 7:45 and the second at 12:20. Closer to home, we will also see Housing Starts and Building Permits for Canada, which are both expected to be down from the previous month.