Monday night’s much-anticipated US Presidential debate was perhaps one of the most closely watched debates on American television. According to BBC, up to a 100 million viewers tuned into the debate.
It very quickly turned into a personal war of rebuttals, as Republican candidate Donald Trump accused Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton of not having enough stamina to be President, and Clinton asking the New York real-estate tycoon to release his tax returns.
Some of the post-debate sentiments and polls, however, seem to indicate that Clinton fared better in the debate. Her probability of winning the White House gained in online betting markets following the first debate.
Clinton Gains in Online Betting
A Clinton contract on the popular PredictIt betting market gained 6 cents from the previous day’s level to 69 cents, while a contract favouring Donald Trump’s prospects for victory tumbled 7 cents to 31 cents.
Contracts are priced from 0 cents to 100 cents, with the contract price equating to a probability of whether that candidate will win the 8 November election.
Price swings for both candidates were the largest since early August, and placed Clinton’s lead in that market at the widest in about two weeks.
Clinton’s prospects also improved on the Irish betting site Paddy Power.
About halfway through Monday’s debate, she was shown as a 1-to-2 favourite, and those odds shortened to 4-to-9 in the moments after the debate ended. Trump’s odds lengthened to 23-to-10 from 9-to-4.
The swing following the debate put the brakes on a big Trump price rally on PredictIt that coincided with a tightening in most public opinion polls.
Mexican Peso or ‘Trump Thermometer’ Climbs 2%
The Mexican peso, dubbed the “Trump thermometer” because of its sensitivity to the US presidential campaign, climbed two percent.
The Mexican peso surged in Asian trade, buoyed by the view that Clinton did better than Trump in the debate.
The peso has hit record lows in recent days on concerns that a Trump victory would threaten Mexico’s exports to the United States, its single biggest market.
Trump has pledged to build a wall at the Mexican border to prevent illegal immigration.
CNN/ORC Poll Claims Clinton Won the Debate
A CNN/ORC poll of debate watchers put Clinton at 62 per cent, while Republican rival Donald Trump lost by 27 percent in Monday night’s debate.
The election so far has been a closely contested one with both Clinton and Trump being put on the back foot by the the other from time to time.
Clinton was filmed fainting after leaving the 9/11 memorial service and several questions were raised about her health at the point. It was later revealed that she had been suffering from pneumonia.
Trump has made substantial gains on Hillary since the two began campaigning in 2015. The next Presidential debate has been scheduled for 9 October.