Trump's surprise wins in key US states rattle world markets

With investors worried a Trump victory could cause economic and global uncertainty, the U.S. dollar sank and stock markets plummeted in wild Asian trading. Opinion polls before Election Day had given Clinton a slim lead.

Mexico's peso plunged to its lowest-ever levels as Trump's chances of winning the presidency increased. Concerns of a Trump victory have weighed heavily on the peso for months because of his threats to rip up a free trade agreement with Mexico and tax money sent home by migrants to pay to build a wall on the southern U.S. border.

Trump surged to wins in Florida, Ohio, Iowa and North Carolina, and Fox News projected a win for him in Wisconsin. With voting completed in 49 of the 50 U.S. states, he also narrowly led in Michigan and New Hampshire, edging him closer to 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the state-by-state fight for the White House.

Shortly after Fox called Wisconsin for Trump, supporters at his election evening rally in New York began to chant "Lock her up" - a common refrain on the campaign trail for the former U.S. secretary of state repeatedly dubbed "Crooked Hillary" by Trump.

Clinton still had ways to reach 270 electoral votes, but she would have to sweep the remaining battleground states including Pennsylvania, Michigan and Nevada, and pull off an upset win in Arizona.

Trump captured conservative states in the South and Midwest, while Clinton swept several states on the East Coast and Illinois in the Midwest.

After running close throughout the night in Virginia, Clinton pulled out the swing state that is home to her running mate, Senator Tim Kaine. But Trump

At 8:55 p.m. EST (0155 GMT on Wednesday), Clinton acknowledged a battle that was unexpectedly tight given her edge in opinion polls going into Election Day.

She tweeted: "This team has so much to be proud of. Whatever happens tonight, thank you for everything."

As of 11:40 p.m. EST (0440 GMT on Wednesday), Trump had 244 electoral votes to Clinton’s 209, with U.S. television networks projecting the winner in 41 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

A wealthy real-estate developer and former reality TV host, Trump rode a wave of anger toward Washington insiders to challenge Clinton, whose gold-plated establishment resume includes stints as a first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state.

UNPOPULAR CANDIDATES

Both candidates had historically low popularity ratings, although Trump's were worse than Clinton's, in an election that many voters characterized as a choice between two unpleasant alternatives.

Before Tuesday's voting, Clinton led Trump, 44 percent to 39 percent in the last Reuters/Ipsos national tracking poll. A Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation poll gave her a 90 percent chance of defeating Trump and becoming the first woman elected U.S. president.

Also at stake on Tuesday was control of Congress. Television networks projected Republicans would retain control of the House of Representatives, where all 435 seats were up for grabs.

In the Senate, where Republicans were defending a slim four-seat majority, Democrats scored their first breakthrough in Illinois when Republican Senator Mark Kirk lost re-election. But Republicans Rob Portman in Ohio and Marco Rubio in Florida won high-profile Senate re-election fights.

In a presidential campaign that focused more on the character of the candidates than on policy, Clinton, 69, and Trump, 70, accused each other of being fundamentally unfit to lead the country.

Trump entered the race 17 months ago and survived a series of seemingly crippling blows, many of them self-inflicted, including the emergence in October of a 2005 video in which he boasted about making unwanted sexual advances on women. He apologised but within days, several women emerged to say he had groped them, allegations he denied.

He was judged the loser of all three presidential debates with Clinton and she led him by varying margins for months in opinion polls.

Trump won avid support among a core base of white non-college educated workers with his promise to be the "greatest jobs president that God ever created." He has vowed to impose a 35 percent tariff on goods exported to the United States by U.S. companies that went abroad.