US open: Investors wary on election day as they await president Clinton or Trump

US markets opened warily on Wednesday as Americans headed to the polls, while investors tentatively awaited the new tenant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 0.22% to 18,219.63 points, the S&P 500 declined 0.27% to 2,125.78 points and the Nasdaq tripped 0.3% to 5,150.72 points at 1501 GMT.

Oil prices retreated as OPEC said if the Paris climate agreement’s targets are enforced, demand for oil could peak within 13 years.

Brent crude fell 1.02% to $45.68 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate was down 0.87% to $44.50 at 1455 GMT.

Gold Comex advanced 0.13% to $1,281 per ounce at 1448 GMT.

Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets, said: “Gold is again flirting with the 200-day moving average and traders cannot decide which way it will move. The chances of this moving towards the upside are higher if Donald Trump wins the election.

“However, if Hillary Clinton wins the election, the downward move may not be that harsh as the next question will be what the Federal Reserve will do with respect to their interest rate? The market is pricing in that there is an over 80% chance that a rate hike will take place if Clinton wins the election and in our opinion that is already baked in the price. Hence the downside is limited.”

According to the RealClearPolitics average of polls, Clinton currently has a three-point lead over rival Donald Trump.

Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex, said: “The day only really got duller as it went on, the US open bringing little to the party bar a bit more election anxiety. Falling around 40 points after the bell the Dow Jones understandably couldn’t build on yesterday’s explosive growth, not yet at least. The US index is still sitting above 18200, a fairly regular perch for the Dow across the last 2 months, and looks unlikely to do much until the first exit polls start to dribble out this evening.

“And what of the JOLTS job openings I hear you cry? Well, they came in at a lower than expected, but higher than last month, 5.49m, securing the attention of pretty much no-one.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) revealed there were 5.486m job openings in September, below expectations of 5.508m. The share of layoffs and discharges of total employment fell to 1.1%, the lowest level since 2001.

The quit rate, the number of people who had resigned from their job divided by the number of employees, remained flat at 2.1%

In corporate news, shares plunged 20.1% in Canada-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals after it slashed its outlook for revenues and earnings for the year, as it struggles in nearly all parts of its business.

The drug maker reported third quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.55, compared to $2.41 last year and below expectations of $1.76.

Pharmacy owner CVS Health's shares plummeted 13.07% after it also cut its earnings guidance, due to slow prescription growth, as it reported third quarter revenue of $44.6bn, below the forecast of $45.3bn.

Hertz Global Holdings’ shares tanked 50.2% as the rental car giant missed third quarter expectations with $1.50 earnings per share, below estimates of $2.73. Revenue also fell to $2.54bn against an expected of $2.59bn.