U.S. stock indexes were trading flat Wednesday morning after flailing overnight, spurred by conciliatory comments from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the aftermath of his unexpected victory over Hillary Clinton.
"While Trump slightly soothed some concerns in his victory speech, uncertainty remains over what kind of a U.S. he plans to lead," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.
Just after 9:30 a.m., the Dow Jones industrial average was down by 30 points,
, far less than the 800 point plunge reported as investors contemplated the effect of a possible Trump Administration overnight.
"The broad Standard & Poor's 500 stock index, which was down 5 percent overnight and hit a trading halt designed to limit losses, also so trimmed its steep declines and was down 0.3 percent," according to USA Today.
Global markets descended into chaos as returns starts trickling in Tuesday night and showed Trump ahead of Clinton. Most of the losses had been pared down by Wednesday morning.
A Clinton victory was perceived as being better for financial markets,
, because investors knew of her political history and because of the sense of continuity she was expected to provide.
"Markets generally don't like one party to have complete control," Michael Antonelli, an institutional equity sales trader and managing director at Robert W. Baird & Co. in Milwaukee,
. "Gridlock is typically what the market likes, but the Republicans have been a market-friendly party. I think part of the reason the market rallied is because it looks like they're going to take all three. But Trump is this big question mark."
Meanwhile, yields on Treasury bonds reached their highest levels in months,
, "in anticipation of a fiscal stimulus that will drive future interest rates higher."
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Cox Media Group
