For the last four years, the world has watched on as a millionaire tv star held office in the most powerful country in the world. Four years later, and America is one of the most divided countries on the brink of civil unrest. They’ve seen protests from the Black Lives Matter movement, and an alarming rise of far right views becoming mainstream. It’s a country airing on the side of economic collapse following the global pandemic and ineffectual handling of the crisis, and yet it’s a country that still holds the purse strings to the global economy. Whatever the outcome of the presidential electionoutcome of the presidential election, it is sure to have repercussions on the stock market for years to come.

The impact of Civil Unrest

Historically civil unrest in America doesn’t appear to impact the stock market negatively, however, there has never been such a divisive President in office at such times. The impact on the stock market because of civil unrest has yet to be seen, however, depending on which candidate triumphs could have further impact. This is because new policies regarding income tax rates, corporate tax rates, tariffs, international trade, entitlement programs, and environmental regulations could impact the economy – and global financial markets – in the long run. Many investors look past civil unrest and bet on a successful economic reopening in the future. Presently, the protests have been seen as having a significant impact from an earnings standpoint, and so hasn’t impacted the economies thus far.

Covid Handling

President Trump has made no secret that business comes before people, and since the world learned of the Coronavirus, he has been quick in pointing the finger at China. His threats towards the Asian powerhouse escalated as he threatened a US-China trade war in response to his perceived view of Beijing’s handling of the crisis. Tension between the world’s two economic superpowers saw share prices tumble as confidence across global markets faltered. While this current trade war has simmered in recent months, the volatility of President Trump causes many speculators to be more cautious. Across the global market traders have panic-sold out of fear which has caused the stock market to crumble. Has countries in Asia begin to recover, so too does confidence in their economy. Nevertheless, as the virus remains largely unchecked in Europe and America, their markets are still in free-fall. And with the current White House administration doing little to slow down the spread of the virus, the economy is set to continue to free-fall. It will be up to the future president to decide how much more stimulus will be pumped into the economy. To help you monitor the situation and offer a safe platform for trading visit OANDA for more information about how the US election could impact the world’s stock markets.