WASHINGTON (The Thursday Times) — US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that America had taken “a giant step back in History” with last week’s midterm elections, in which Democrats won control of both houses of Congress, and blamed the result for a one-day, $3 trillion fall on the stock market.
“America took a giant step back in History with the results of the last Election — Even the Stock Market, which has been a “ROCKETSHIP” under “TRUMP,” took a one day, 3 Trillion Dollar loss. But have no fear, we will be back, BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!” he wrote on Truth Social.
What the markets did: stocks rose on Wednesday, the day after the vote, with the Dow Jones gaining about 1,570 points, or 3 per cent. They fell sharply on Thursday, as technology and artificial intelligence shares tumbled on fears that a Democratic Congress and newly elected state governments would crack down on the AI industry. The S&P 500 lost 4.4 per cent, wiping about $3 trillion off the value of its companies by some estimates, the Dow fell more than 1,800 points and the Nasdaq dropped 5.5 per cent, entering a correction more than 10 per cent below its record high.
Since the vote, Trump has named Stephen Miller as his White House chief of staff, ordered the Justice Department to investigate Democrats he accuses of threatening his allies, and offered the UFC chief Dana White the job of press secretary. Democrats take control of Congress in January.
Pakistan’s market went the other way. The KSE-100 index closed 1.96 per cent higher at 175,380 points on Thursday, helped by lower global oil prices.
