Global equity prices and the dollar slid for the second straight day on Wednesday, while safe-haven assets such as gold rallied as investors were rattled by signs the U.S. presidential race was tightening just days before the vote.
Uncertainty about the outcome of the election pushed U.S. Treasury yields to their lowest in a week, while crude oil extended losses after U.S. government data showed a much bigger-than-expected build in inventories.
Investors were beginning to rethink their long-held bets of a Nov. 8 victory for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton amid signs her Republican rival Donald Trump could be closing the gap, deepening the recent decline across major stock markets.
Weakness on Wall Street, on the heels of falling Asian and European stocks, sent MSCI’s 47-country “All World” index .MIWD00000PUS down 0.42 percent.
While Clinton held a 5 percentage point lead over Trump, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Monday, some other polls showed her Republican rival ahead by 1-2 percentage points.
“As the polls change, the market is growing more nervous and is beginning to price in a Trump presidency,” said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital LLC in Bernardsville, New Jersey.
