What will President Trump mean for financial services?

Donald Trump had been elected the 45^th President of the United States of America. As results started to be announced in the early hours of Wednesday morning the Dow Jones and Asian stocks fell, the dollar weakened, and gold rallied. Some commentators even predicted global recession as the most likely outcome of Trump winning the election.

But can we really already predict what a Trump presidency will mean for the financial world?

The more conciliatory rhetoric of Trump’s victory speech has already calmed international markets somewhat. The FTSE 100 recovered its early losses within the first few hours of trading, and while European markets are fluctuating they are not falling as fast or as far as some might have expected.

Of course, the dust is yet to settle. Trump’s election campaign steered clear of concrete economic policy, and while the Republican party now controls the White House, Senate and Congress, there are major divides between the party and the President-Elect on key issues.

As has been a recurring pattern throughout 2016, it seems that the only thing we can be certain of is uncertainty and, to use an old industry refrain, there is opportunity in volatility.