Combination with Former President and Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump (L), and Vice President and Democratic Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris.
This is CNBC's live blog covering European markets.
European stocks were higher Wednesday as global markets focused on the vote count following the U.S. presidential election.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 1.5% at 9:32 a.m. London time, with regional bourses and sectors broadly rising. Health care stocks added 2.8% while utilities fell 1%.
Global markets are focusing on the results emerging from key battleground states that are expected to determine the winner of the presidential race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
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Trump has won the electoral vote heavy prizes of Texas and Florida, as well as the battleground states of North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania. Harris took New York and California, as well as Virginia. Republicans are expected to regain their majority control of the U.S. Senate in 2025, according to NBC News.
Follow CNBC's 2024 election live blog here
U.S. stock futures rose sharply in overnight trading as investors bet that former President Donald Trump will retake the White House. Asia-Pacific markets were mixed overnight.
Market attention is focused on which party will dominate Congress, given that a sweep by Republicans or Democrats could contribute to drastic spending changes or a big revamp of tax policy.
Money Report
Wall Street is also preparing for the Federal Reserve's upcoming rate decision on Thursday. According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, traders anticipate a 96.1% chance of a quarter-point rate cut at the end of the central bank's policy meeting, following a half-percentage-point reduction in September.
— CNBC.com staff contributed to this markets blog.
BMW shares fall after carmaker posts 83% drop in quarterly net profit
German carmaker BMW on Wednesday reported a 83% drop in net profit to 476 million euros ($512 million) in the third quarter compared to the same period a year earlier, sending shares lower.
Brake system issues and a "challenging market environment in China" were both impacting performance, BMW said, while noting it was "on track" to meet its 2024 targets. The carmaker in September cut its 2024 profit margin outlook.
In a statement on Wednesday BMW CEO Oliver Zipse said the company had faced "extraordinary challenges in the third quarter" and was now turning its attention to the future.
"In the fourth quarter, we are back on track for stronger earnings in order to achieve our annual targets, despite planned high upfront expenditures," he said.
At 9:08 a.m. London time, BMW shares were 3.77% lower.
— Sophie Kiderlin
Health care stocks rise, boosted by Siemens Healthineers, Novo Nordisk
Health care stocks on the Stoxx 600 index rose 2.8% on Wednesday as trading day got underway, boosted by Siemens Healthineers and Novo Nordisk shares jumping after the companies released their respective quarterly results.
Siemens Healthineers was up 8.8% at 8:25 a.m. London time, while Novo Nordisk rose 7.4%.
Novo Nordisk on Wednesday said its quarterly profit was in line with expectations and narrowed its 2024 full-year growth guidance.
Siemens Healthineers, meanwhile, said its comparable revenue growth for its full fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, came in at 4.7%, which Reuters said was just short of a Research-compiled consensus by Vara. The company said its revenue growth came "despite current difficult market conditions in China."
— Sophie Kiderlin
European markets open higher on Wednesday
European markets were higher as trading got underway on Wednesday.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.93% at 8:04 a.m. London time, with regional bourses and sectors widely rising. Health care stocks last led gains, adding 2.53%, while autos fell 1.95%.
— Sophie Kiderlin
British fintech firm Wise posts 55% jump in profit on expanding market share
Wise posted a 55% jump in profit in the first half of its 2025 fiscal year Wednesday, citing customer growth and expanding market share.
The British digital payments firm said that its first-half profit totalled £217.3 million, up from £140.6 million in the same period a year ago.
That came on the back of a 25% increase in active customers, with Wise reporting a total of 11.4 million consumer and business clients.
— Ryan Browne
Novo Nordisk quarterly profit meets expectations
Novo Nordisk on Wednesday reported third quarter earnings broadly in line with expectations and narrowed its 2024 full-year growth guidance.
The Danish pharmaceutical giant said that its net profit in the third quarter hit 27.3 billion Danish kroner ($3.92 billion), above an LSEG aggregate estimate of 26.95 billion Danish kroner.
Read the full story here.
-Sophie Kiderlin
Deutsche Bank maintains euro short bet
George Saravelos, global head of FX research at Deutsche Bank, explained that his team were holding into their euro short bet as the U.S. results came in.
In a research note at roughly 5 a.m. U.K. time, just around the time NBC News projected Donald Trump would win North Carolina,, he said:
"While at the time of publication the result is not yet confirmed, polling forecasts suggest a Trump victory is likely. We are holding on to our long-standing short EUR/USD view given the asymmetric dollar positive risks we have been highlighting throughout this year and we move our year-end EUR/USD forecast down to 1.05."
-Matt Clinch
Markets calling election for Trump, strategist says
Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, noted markets indicating a victory for former President Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris.
"At this point right now, the market's called it [for Trump]. Whether that turns out to be true is still not decided. That will be the interesting thing to keep an eye on," Sosnick told CNBC. "But again, the markets have been ahead of the pollsters, the pundits, for some time."
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures soared more than 480 points, or 1.2%. Bitcoin, which is seen as benefiting from a Trump win, hit a record and was last at $74,148, up 6.7%. Treasury yields also climbed, with the benchmark 10-year note yield trading around 4.4%.
To be sure, several battleground states remain too close to call or too early to call, per NBC News.
— Fred Imbert
Bitcoin surges to a new record of $75,000 as traders bet Trump has election edge
Bitcoin rallied Tuesday evening hitting an all-time high as investors bet former President Donald Trump was gaining an edge in the U.S. election.
The price of the flagship cryptocurrency touched a record $75,000 on the nose, according to Coin Metrics. Its gains increased as Trump took an early lead in the Electoral College, even though none of the major swing states were called yet by NBC News.
Exchange operator Coinbase rose 3% in after hours trading, while MicroStrategy, advanced 4%.
For more on bitcoin's price action on election night read our full story here.
— Tanaya Macheel
10-year Treasury yield pops
Treasury yields jumped in early trading Tuesday evening as traders saw former President Donald Trump having an edge in the election.
The 10-year Treasury yield jumped 16 basis points at 4.44%, hitting its highest level since July 2. The yield on the 2-year Treasury was up by 10 basis points to 4.30%. One basis point is equivalent to 0.01%. Yields and prices have an inverted relationship.
Even though none of the major swing states were called yet by NBC News, traders speculated the early returns were favoring Trump.
Bond yields could see a big pop in the event of a Trump win, and they could surge in a Republican sweep, where the party captures control of Congress and the White House. That is because Republicans may introduce tax cuts and steep tariffs, moves that could widen the fiscal deficit and reignite inflation.
"Bonds are selling off across the yield curve massively as the Trump trade gets applied again," wrote Byron Anderson, head of fixed income at Laffer Tengler Investments. "We see markets expecting a Trump victory and a real possibility of a Republican sweep."
— Yun Li
CNBC Pro: Buy these 3 stocks — whatever the election result, analyst says
As the results of one of the most hotly contested elections in the U.S. come in, investors are scrambling to position for the most likely outcome.
Shelby McFaddin, senior analyst at Motley Fool Asset Management, said she expects volatility this week, but a "limited impact on long-term investments as markets await real policy implications."
Any bets made before the results are final are "pure speculation," she told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Nov. 5. "Either potential administrations would bring an increase in infrastructure spending and inflation remains a concern."
Looking past the election result, McFaddin named three stocks she likes right now.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Amala Balakrishner
Investors should sell a Trump rally or buy a Harris dip, says Citi's Scott Chronert
Investors should sell a potential rally in the market if Trump wins the election, according to Citi's Scott Chronert.
"Your starting point is a fairly extended valuation circumstance that's predicated on very strong earnings growth follow-through into 2025," the bank's U.S. equity strategist told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Tuesday. "Our concern is that with that set up, you go into a Trump win and you introduce tariffs into the discussion … [and] 2025 growth expectations become a bit more suspect as we navigate tariff action."
On the other hand, if Harris is victorious, Chronert said investors should consider buying an anticipated market dip.
"It really comes down to Trump and tariffs, and Harris and taxes," he said.
— Sean Conlon
Oil market could face volatility if Trump wins, Goldman Sachs says
A second Trump administration is more likely to bring volatility to the oil market, according to Goldman Sachs.
Donald Trump could tighten sanctions on Iran, reducing supply from the Islamic Republic and putting upward pressure on prices in the short term, the investment bank told clients in a Monday note.
Oil prices rose about 1% as voters in the U.S. headed to the polls. U.S. crude oil had gained 35 cents, or 0.49%, to $71.82 per barrel by 8:56 a.m. ET. Global benchmark Brent crude futures added 33 cents, or 0.44%, to $75.41 per barrel.
"Conceptually, the impact of a potential second Trump term on oil prices is ambiguous," Yulia Zhestkova Grigsby, vice president of commodity research at Goldman Sachs, told clients in a note Monday.
Over the medium term, however, a second Trump administration could heighten trade tensions through tariffs, putting downward pressure on global oil demand and prices, according to Goldman.
— Spencer Kimball
CNBC Pro: These 2 stocks beat the S&P 500 in election Novembers no matter who won
Two stocks have outperformed the S&P 500 every November when elections have been held over the past three decades — regardless of the outcome, according to a CNBC Pro study.
CNBC Pro screened for stocks currently in the MSCI World Index that gained more than the S&P 500 — or lost less than the index — in November of every election year since 1988. The 36-year period has seen four Republicans and five Democrats elected to the White House.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about the two stocks here.
— Ganesh Rao
European markets: Here are the opening calls
European markets are expected to open lower Wednesday.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 8 points lower at 8,167, Germany's DAX down 65 points at 19,189, France's CAC down 22 points at 7,383 and Italy's FTSE MIB down 134 points at 34,098, according to data from IG.
Earnings come from Novo Nordisk, Skanska, Lundin Petroleum, Ahold Delhaize, PUMA, Credit Agricole, Pandora, Commerzbank, Henkel and Enel, among others.
— Holly Ellyatt
