As the evening progressed and the possibility of a Trump victory grew, US S&P stock futures plunged by 5 per cent or "limit down" - the maximum decline permitted before trading curbs kick. But later in the night, futures trading reversed, the index putting on a 1 per cent gain.
Likewise the US dollar was sold down sharply against the yen and several other currencies, only to erase its losses later in the night.
In US-10 year bonds - the bellwether instrument for borrowing costs - the yield shot up to 2.06 per cent from 1.7 per cent, reflecting expectations of higher inflation and the increased likelihood of a rate hike from the US Federal Reserve in December.
"We have had a massive flip flop - something that we don't see very often," Imre Speizer, senior markets strategist at Westpac, said.
"It was probably on a quick assessment that his policies were probably going to be good for growth," he said.