Mexican peso, dollar, Japanese yen, Swiss Franc in focus as US election unfolds

Safe-haven currencies surged on Wednesday as investors remained on the edge while waiting for U.S. polling results.

The yen climbed from an earlier session low of 105.46 to as high as 101.44 versus the dollar. As of 11:35 a.m. HK/SIN, the dollar/yen traded at 101.70.

Yen crosses also gained, with the euro/yen pair at 114.31, down from an earlier high of 116.02, while pound/yen traded at 127.53, down from levels near 130. The Japanese currency also strengthened against the Australian dollar, climbing from levels near 82.00 to as high as 77.27.

The Swiss franc climbed to a session high of 0.9576 against the dollar from an earlier low of 0.9835. As of 11:38 a.m. HK/SIN, the currency traded at 0.9597 versus the greenback.

Movements in the currency market were driven as NBC News projected GOP nominee Donald Trump to win Ohio, a key battleground state.

ThinkMarkets' senior market analyst Matt Simpson warned in a morning note that with markets pricing in a Clinton victory, it left the potential for "some nasty whipsaws over the next eight to 12 hours" in the event of unexpected outcomes in individual states.
"Whilst markets seem optimistic going into this, we cannot help but feel some of these moves are a little too pre-emptive," he said. "Expectations can (and usually do) lead to disappointment."

NBC News also projected Trump to win Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Indiana, West Virginia, South Carolina, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming, Louisiana and Kentucky.

Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was projected to win Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington D.C.
NBC projected that Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Michigan, Maine, Iowa, Nevada and Georgia were too close to call. Republicans were projected to maintain control of the House of Representatives.

The NBC News projections sent the Mexican peso tumbling. The peso had been closely watched during the election campaign as a barometer of the markets' expectation of a Trump win. The peso weakened to a session low of 20.47, falling from an earlier high of 18.14. At 11:42 a.m. HK/SIN, the peso traded at 20.32 versus the dollar.

The Canadian dollar traded at 1.3481 versus the greenback as of 11:42 a.m. HK/SIN, weakening from an earlier high of 1.3260.

Both currencies have been on investors' radar since Trump said in October he would renegotiate the trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the U.S., Canada and Mexico - an event that could have a negative impact on the economies of the latter two.

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