Donald Trump’s decisive win in the United States (US) election has cleared investor uncertainty over who will be the next president, with most US stocks rallying this week. Meanwhile, Bitcoin has been trading in uncharted territory, reaching an all-time high of $73,500 on November 5 and continuing to break this ceiling, nearing US$77,000 by Friday. Trump backers, such as Elon Musk, who has donated nearly $120 million to support the Republican candidate (according to the New York Times), are also benefiting financially. Tesla’s stock is up 18% over the past five trading sessions (before the market opened on Friday). Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel, along with longtime friend and backer of Vice President-elect JD Vance, has also profited, with Palantir’s stock soaring 33%.
Banks win big while real estate stocks tumble
According to Fidelity Research, on November 6, the day after the US election, most stocks in the S&P 500, one of the country’s most important stock indexes, gained. The index rose by 2.53%.
Financial companies saw the most significant gains, adding 6.16% on the day, with big banks like JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America soaring over 8%. Consumer discretionary companies followed closely with a 3.62% gain, similar to the 3.54% rise in energy companies. Information technology businesses also had a strong day, closing up 2.52%.
Healthcare companies had a mixed session, closing with a small gain of 0.15%. The day’s losers were utility companies (-0.98%), consumer staples (-1.57%), and real estate businesses, which saw a decline of 2.6% as worries over future tariffs spooked investors. Nonetheless, the 30-year bond had its worst day since the pandemic, jumping 17 basis points (the most since March 2020) as bond traders expressed concern about inflationary pressures under a potential Trump administration, mainly from tariffs that could fuel commercial wars and drive prices higher, according to most economists.
Crypto craze, Bitcoin highs and Solana impresses
Coinbase, the largest traded crypto company, is up almost 50% this week because of Trump’s support for cryptocurrencies. Similarly, Bitcoin megabull Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy (the company holding 252,220 bitcoins, worth around $19 billion) is up almost 20% weekly.
Bitcoin hit all-time highs on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, nearing $77,000. Researchers from crypto companies like CoinShares and Bitfinex told CNBC that the digital currency could hit $100,000 by Trump’s inauguration (January 20).
During the campaign, Trump pledged to create a national crypto stockpile. The businessman also committed to firing Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler, who has been critical of the crypto industry, and establishing a presidential advisory council to support crypto innovation.
Additionally, the now president-elect has called for all future bitcoin to be mined in the United States, emphasising energy dominance and competition with China and Russia.
Meanwhile, Solana, one of the largest coins, is also nearing all-time highs and is up nearly 20% this week, despite other major cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, XRP, Cardano, and Dogecoin being more than 40% down from their 2021 highs.
