LIVE | Trump and Biden neck-and-neck | Abroad

Trump now has a 60% chance of winning, up from 70% earlier, according to the betting website Betfair, Bloomberg news agency reports. The incumbent president is also the leader at Unibet. Pollers and investors long assumed a (simple) victory for challenger Biden, then they tipped Trump as a favorite, but the tide seems to be turning for the Democrat.

Meanwhile, the legal battle for the ballot box results has already begun. Trump’s campaign team lost a lawsuit to stop vote counting in Clark County, Nevada’s largest district, which also includes the city of Las Vegas. There has been disagreement about the accuracy of technology used to verify signatures and the access of election observers, some of whom claim to be kept away from polling stations, but Republicans have provided no evidence, according to the state’s highest court.

A suburban district near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is also being charged for allegedly having started counting postal votes before it was allowed. It concerns the Montgomery County district, which is expected to vote predominantly for the Democrats. Pennsylvania is considered a pivotal state in the struggle for the presidency.

Chicken fingers

For the time being, Trump is awaiting the results in the White House, in the presence of family, chief of staff Mark Meadows, part of his cabinet and some backers. According to sources from Bloomberg news agency, there are small burgers on this results evening (skewers), fried chicken fingers (chicken tenders), fries and ‘a variety of desserts’ on the menu. According to news channel CNN, President Donald Trump has decided to shorten the guest list from 400 to 250 because of the risk of corona contamination. They are switched on the right-wing TV channel Fox News.

Trump is known for his love of fast food. When a federal government shutdown also stopped working the White House kitchen, he ordered McDonald’s burgers for American football players who came to visit.

Among the hundreds of Joe Biden supporters who have gathered at the White House, nervousness seems to be on the rise. Large screens show that a blue wave has not been shown so far.

“We wanted to come and support Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and were hoping for a party,” said a retired official. “I am a little disappointed in Florida, my home state.” The important southern state goes to Trump, according to Fox News, who also won it in 2016. The 51-year-old woman admitted she was excited, but also said she still expects Biden to narrowly win.

Earlier in the evening, Trump’s ex-adviser Kellyanne Conway announced that the president will likely be delivering a speech from the White House events and reception area during the evening.

More news:

• Supporter QAnon Marjorie Taylor Greene elected to United States House of Representatives
• Republicans are moving out of safety campaign headquarters
• Democrats increase their majority in the House of Representatives, conquer first Senate seat from Republicans
• Biden: ‘We are on our way to election win’
• Republican Mitch McConnell re-elected to Senate
• Riots in Washington and Los Angeles: black masked figures at the White House
• Trump: ’Losing is never easy’
• ‘Female friend dumps rapper Lil Wayne for support for Trump ‘
• Twitter and Facebook are blocking right-wing accounts and message Trump
• Republican Gov. Massachusetts Charlie Baker votes blank
• ’Meghan Markle voted early ‘
• Presidential candidate Kanye West films from a voting booth
• Election day in the US has been quiet so far: ‘It goes smoothly’
• National poll: economics more important to more US voters than corona
• Republican Governor Phil Scoot votes for Democrat Biden
• Trump campaign loses injunction over vote count in Nevada
• Spanning in New York at polling stations: ‘I am terribly nervous’
• American cities prepare for riots and shops are closing down
• Americans get a call not to vote with a call
• More than 100 million Americans voted early
• Where can it get exciting? De swingstates

Financial news:

• The most important indicator of the New York stock exchange is in the plus now that the contours of the result are becoming clear. The futures on this S&P 500 gained almost three percentage points in half an hour, reached + 2%, and are at + 1.2% around half past five (Dutch time). The dollar strengthened as gambling markets tipped Trump as the ultimate victor. Wall Street closed much higher on election day, in the expectation that Biden in particular would achieve a simple victory. Investors hope that once in the White House, the Democrat will drive up government spending significantly – which in turn is good for business.
• The Nasdaq tech index is winning, which is a sign that investors are looking for a ‘safe haven’, Bloomberg analysts say. Stocks like Apple, Amazon and Facebook will always rise over time, is the idea, and so those companies are good investments in uncertain times.
• The gold price has lost some, but is still high. A troy ounce – the standard measure for the precious metal – now costs just under $ 1,900. Gold is regarded as ‘congealed distrust’: investors stock up on the precious metal in case the elections turn into a deadlock, uncertainty and a heavy blow to the stocks – then they always have the gold.
• The stock markets have already opened in Asia. The Nikkei index, the main indicator on the Tokyo stock exchange, stands at 1.4% gain. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong also wins.
• Our columnists look ahead to the election results. Read here, among other things, the contributions of Rabobank economist Teeuwe Mevissen, Jaap van Duijn in Jan Maarten Slagter.

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