Wall Street roared to life Wednesday in a wild day of trading that began with gut-wrenching selloffs in Europe and Asia following Donald Trump’s stunning upset in the U.S. presidential election.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped more than 200 points, or about 1 percent, just before noon despite earlier turmoil in futures markets that had suggested it would suffer a 700-point plunge. The other two major indices, the broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq, were both up roughly 1 percent.

Markets climbed as House Speaker Paul Ryan said he had confidence that Trump would lead a “unified Republican government,” even after a fractious election in which Ryan himself appeared conflicted about supporting the president-elect. In addition, Trump delivered a conciliatory acceptance speech early Wednesday morning, saying it was “time to bind the wounds of division.”

On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to address the suffering of workers left behind by globalization by ripping up free trade deals, imposing tariffs on goods from Mexico and China and restricting immigration. Many economists had warned such moves could spark a trade war and undercut the American recovery, and investors around the world initially panicked as Trump marched toward victory Tuesday evening.

But by Wednesday morning – and with a Republican sweep of both chambers of Congress – markets focused instead on the growing possibility that long-sought business reforms could become reality. Trump has also vowed to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure, slash corporate and individual taxes and cut back on regulations.

“He has focused on and promised faster economic growth, and he now has a Congress that can deliver on some of the key elements of his strategy for that,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum and who helped advise Sen. John McCain’s presidential bid in 2008.

Even the Mexican peso – which had fallen as the Republican nominee rose in the polls during his campaign – regained some ground after dropping to the lowest level since the 1990s.

The panic in the financial markets had stretched all the way to Asia, where Japan’s Nikkei index plunged more than 900 points, or 5.4 percent, Wednesday. In a flight to safety, gold charged higher, and the yen also surged.

In Europe, major indices reversed course through the trading day. The Stoxx Europe 600 index opened about 2 percent lower but turned positive in the afternoon. Germany’s main DAX index had fallen by around 1.6 percent before moving modestly into the green, and London’s FTSE-100 was rose 1 percent.

Chrisine Shippey, and her mother, Evelyn Ness, (left to right) were having breakfast together on the morning after the election at Milt’s Coffee Shop on Wednesday, November 9, 2016. photo by Jerilee Bennett,The Gazette

Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette