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  1. Economy and Politics
  2. Elections

Mexican Peso Surges After First Presidential Debate

By:
Kerry Close
2 min read
Mexican Peso bills are arranged for a photograph with a U.S. one dollar bill in Mexico City, Mexico, on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016. Mexicos peso, the worst performing major currency in 2016, is poised for a rebound by the end of this year, according to its most-accurate forecaster, Sireen Harajli, a strategist for Mizuho Bank Ltd. who was the best analyst for the peso in the fourth quarter, according to a Bloomberg ranking. - Susana Gonzalez—Bloomberg via Getty Images
Mexican Peso bills are arranged for a photograph with a U.S. one dollar bill in Mexico City, Mexico, on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016. Mexicos peso, the worst performing major currency in 2016, is poised for a rebound by the end of this year, according to its most-accurate forecaster, Sireen Harajli, a strategist for Mizuho Bank Ltd. who was the best analyst for the peso in the fourth quarter, according to a Bloomberg ranking. Susana Gonzalez—Bloomberg via Getty Images

While at least two polls gave Hillary Clinton the win over Donald Trump in Monday night's heated presidential debate, the Mexican peso may be the night's real victor.

Emerging markets rallied Tuesday, with the Mexican peso surged more than 2% in the wake of the verbal sparring match, Reuters reported. That may be a result of the fact that the markets see Clinton as the winner in the first debate, and the Democratic candidate is seen as the safer choice in terms of maintaining the status quo. Investors view the Republican Trump, on the other hand, as a volatile option whose presidency leaves many unanswered questions, such as the direction of U.S. foreign policy and the domestic policy.

Before the debate, the peso had reached new lows amid concerns that a Trump presidency might harm exports to the United States, its biggest market. But that changed soon after the candidates began sparring on Tuesday night. "Markets started to call the debate for Hillary within the first 15 minutes or so, with the Mexican peso surging in what is probably its busiest Asian session in years," Sean Callow, a senior currency analyst at Westpac in Sydney, told Reuters.

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