With US President Donald Trump lagging former Vice President and Democratic candidate Joe Biden in national polls, the final face-off between the two emerged to be much more civilized and informative than the first chaotic clash.
There were minimal interruptions from both sides, especially from the incumbent Trump after he reportedly interrupted 73 times in the first debate. This could probably turn out in his favor, as the election contest gets much tighter in some battleground states where the votes will likely be decided.
Joseph Trevisani’s, Senior Analyst at FXStreet, wrapped up the debate, saying:
A modulated informative and challenging debate. Both candidates kept interruptions to a minimum, allowing the other to speak and respond. Kristen Welker was by far the best moderator of the debates and the competing town halls that replaced the second debate.
The quality of the exchanges and the informative value was high. Each candidate performed well, though in comparison to the first debate Trump showed much greater range.
Mr Trump presented a different persona, and in that he probably helped himself more than Mr. Biden who was relatively unchanged from his earlier appearances.
Market implications
Although a better show put up this time by both sides, the debate wasn’t market-moving.
The US dollar pared gains across its major peers while the S&P 500 futures held modestly flat around 3,450 levels. Most majors remained stuck in tight trading ranges.
Gold jumped back on the bids above $1900, near-daily highs of $1907, as we write.