Polls show victory for Clinton in debate as grip tightens

Hillary Clinton appears to have triumphed in the polls on Sunday night's televised debate with Republican rival Donald Trump, and consolidated her lead in the national surveys.

A CNN/ORC poll found that 57% of voters thought Clinton was the victor in the debate in St. Louis, whereas only 34% of voters thought Trump won out.

A YouGov poll had a smaller margin of victory for Clinton, but she was still ahead, claiming 47% versus 42%.

As of 1349 BST, the US dollar was 2.38% lower against the Mexican peso - widely considered to be a good gauge of Trumps's odds in the elections - to 18.84.

The debate took place after a tumultuous weekend in which Republican Trump faced heavy fire from the media and those within his own party after a leaked tape appeared to show him bragging about committing sexual assault.

The New York billionaire had a more measured demeanour during the fractious debate with Clinton, but the weekend's events seem to have taken their toll on voters.

Key swing states appear to be edging in favour of Clinton following the debate. A Suffolk University poll in Nevada put Clinton ahead by six points after previously trailing Trump by a small margin.

British bookmaker Betfair announced on Monday that Clinton now has an 82% chance of winning the election on 8 November, according to its betting exchange.

"Although there was only a marginal movement during the debate, the market had already exploded into life over the weekend as Trump's campaign trail seemingly fell off a cliff in the light of some damning footage from 2005," said Betfair spokesperson Barry Orr.

The third and final presidential debate will take place on Wednesday October 19, and will provide one of the last major opportunities for the candidates to strike blows ahead of election day.