Which ASX 200 stocks benefited the most from Trump's election win?

The S&P/ASX 200 is struggling for upside on Thursday after a sharp 0.8% rally in the previous session, when Donald Trump won the 2024 US presidential election.

A Trump presidency has mixed implications for the local sharemarket. The major beneficiaries include sectors such as Technology, Discretionary and companies with US-based operations from sectors such as onshore energy, steel and industrials.

Treasury yields soared in response to growing deficit concerns due to factors such as higher fiscal spending, tariffs and tighter immigration policy. This also sent the US dollar higher, weighing on currency and yield-sensitive sectors such as Materials, Utilities and Real Estate.

Top gainers

Data as at Wednesday, 6 November 2024 close

Growth-oriented companies with heavy US exposure rallied the most, including:

• Neuren established a partnership with US-based Acadia Pharmaceuticals in July 2023 for the global expansion for trofinetide – for the treatment of Rett syndrome. The US launch of trofinetide (marketed as Daybue in the US) has generated year-to-date (nine months to September 2024) royalties of $37.5 million for Neuren.

• Zip has become increasingly US-skewed across all of its key reporting metrics including transactions, revenue and active customers. In the September quarter 2024, Zip reported 18.8% revenue growth to $239.9 million, of which 57% was derived from the US market

• Bluescope operates five businesses in the North America region, employing approximately 4,000 people. The key driver here are Trump's proposed tax cuts (from approximately 21% to 15%) and tariffs, which mean more protection and higher prices for domestic companies.

Top losers

Data as at Wednesday, 6 November 2024 close

The US 10-year Treasury yield gained 16 bps to 4.43% on Wednesday, the highest level since 4 July amid growing budget deficit concerns as well as the potential for tighter immigration policy to push wages higher. This also sent the US Dollar Index up 1.62%, the largest one-day move since 23 September 2022. This move sent commodity prices sharply lower, led by Copper (-5.3%), Silver (-4.4%), Gold (-3.0%), Singapore Iron Ore futures (-2.6%) and Chinese Lithium Carbonate futures (-2.2%).

Trump has also proposed a potential 60% tariff on Chinese imports, which is much higher than the 7.5% to 25% levied on China during his first term. These potential risks pressured China-linked names such as A2 Milk.