How Investors Are Reacting After Last Night's Presidential Debate
Investors cast votes on a range of politically connected assets following last night's presidential debate, giving a lift to some alternative-energy shares and dragging on cryptocurrencies.
Prediction markets generally indicated a higher expectation of a victory by Vice President Kamala Harris victory after the debate, with Polymarket still predicting a win for former President Donald Trump and PredictIt increasing its likelihood of a Harris one.
Over 90 minutes, the pair sparred on the economy, immigration, abortion, the cost of living, and campaign rally turnouts.
Subsequently, shares of Truth Social parent company Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT), which often acts as a proxy for views of Trump's reelection chances, tumbled some 12%, trading at some of its lowest levels ever. The stock, which has a tiny float, is notoriously volatile.
Cryptocurrencies, another asset class seen as likely to benefit from a Trump presidency, also slumped. The price of Bitcoin (BTCUSD) declined from about $57,650 at the start of the debate to about $56,880 when it ended. Its price continued to slide overnight, and it traded as low as $56,130 early Wednesday.
Harris’s performance gave a boost to clean energy stocks, which were among the S&P 500’s top performers Wednesday.
Harris, if elected President, is widely expected to continue President Biden’s green energy agenda. Lithium mining giant Albemarle (ALB) jumped 11% on Wednesday, while solar panel maker First Solar (FSLR) and green energy utility AES Corp. (AES) advanced 12% and 7%, respectively. The Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) traded 5% higher despite an inflation report that tempered the market’s expectations for interest rate cuts.
Solar stocks are believed to be particularly
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