Trump tests positive for Covid - but should it matter to investors?
There has been a volatile market response to President Trump testing positive for Covid-19. But how significant is the news for investors? We spoke to three experts to find out.
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The breaking news that President Trump has tested positive for Covid-19 has injected an additional level of uncertainty into the 2020 US presidential election. Markets reacted negatively to the announcement, with global stocks falling sharply.
We spoke to three of Schroders' investment experts to get their take on today’s news and the market implications:
Johanna Kyrklund, Group Chief Investment Officer and Global Head of Multi-Asset Investment:
“Markets have a tendency to overreact to daily news around elections, as can be seen today following the news of President Trump’s Covid-19 diagnosis.
"For investors, this short-term volatility can cause nervousness, but the best response at times like these is often to just sit on your hands and do nothing. Political trends that have serious investment implications tend to play out over months and years, the rest is just noise.
"While the US election is clearly a major political event, in investment and economic terms it’s a sideshow in comparison to the pandemic.”
Piya Sachdeva, Economist:
"It is only weeks until the election and Trump now needs to isolate. This could well impact his ability or - at least - effectiveness to campaign and also puts a question mark over the second presidential debate. As this comes at a time when the polls and betting markets show it's Biden’s to lose, this could potentially help Biden at the margin.
“There are also various new scenarios introduced. For example, what happens if this significantly impacts Trump’s short-term health, and he has to go to hospital? Or could his illness be something Trump could point to as grounds to contest the election result?
“We have already highlighted various uncertainties surrounding this election. It is a fairly close race; we don’t know exactly when we will get the result; and it could be contested in some shape or form."
Sean Markowicz, Strategist - Research and Analytics:
“Barring a serious deterioration in Trump’s health (or Biden’s), this is unlikely to have a significant impact on the US election outcome. Presidential debates seldom change voter preferences and this time should be no different.
“The market’s negative reaction can be interpreted as a sign that Biden’s odds to win the election have increased. On average, stock prices have fallen by 2.7% in the final three months before an election whenever the incumbent political party lost, but have rallied by 6.5% if the incumbent party won (see chart below).
“With US equities up only 3.3% so far, overall it seems that investors still feel uncertain about which political party is most likely to win (although the sharp downward move today will have detracted from the figure).
“Nevertheless, investors should not assume that a Biden win would be unequivocally bad for markets. For example, our previous research found that the difference in long term US equity returns under Democratic versus Republican presidents was virtually zero. So party affiliation is not irrelevant, but its significance is often overstated.
"After all, presidents do not operate inside a vacuum and there are many other factors that can influence markets such as valuations, interest rates, inflation and oil prices, among other things.”
Read more:
Trump or Biden - should investors really care?
Watch: Should investors fear a Biden election win?
What would a Biden presidency mean for climate change investing?
Would a Biden presidency hurt stock prices?
Forecasting the US election: should investors prepare for a new president?
This article is issued by Cazenove Capital which is part of the Schroders Group and a trading name of Schroder & Co. Limited, 1 London Wall Place, London EC2Y 5AU. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.
Nothing in this document should be deemed to constitute the provision of financial, investment or other professional advice in any way. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The value of an investment and the income from it may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the amount originally invested.
This document may include forward-looking statements that are based upon our current opinions, expectations and projections. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements.
All data contained within this document is sourced from Cazenove Capital unless otherwise stated.
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