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Traders, investors and analysts across the Asia-Pacific region rode whipsawing markets Wednesday, as U.S. presidential election results—in a surprise reversal— showed increasing support for a victory by Republican candidate Donald Trump.

In Singapore, Stephen Innes, a senior trader at retail currency broker Oanda Asia Pacific, said his customers were placing smaller currency bets, especially in the yen, and holding those positions for short periods. "There's a lot of in and out, quick trades."

Oanda's Singapore trading desk is connected by speakerphone to desks in New York and Toronto, and "the squawk box went crazy" as polls closed in Florida, he said.

Earlier in the U.S. evening and Asia morning, evidence of support for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton—seen as more market-friendly—pushed Japanese and Korean stock indexes higher. Later polls showing Mr. Trump pulling ahead in key states sent the yen and gold soaring, as well as other assets that are seen as safe places to stash money in times of turmoil.

Traders are in a "crouch and hold" position, as early voting results start to come in, said Wellington, New Zealand-based broker Stuart Ive, a private client manager at OM Financial Ltd. "In terms of U.S. yields, clearly a Clinton win means markets will be expecting the [U.S. Federal Reserve] to hike in December…If we saw a Trump win, globally bond market yields will drop dramatically as we get a flight to safety."

Ray Attrill, the Sydney based global head of currency strategy at National Australia Bank, stepped away from his computer screens for 20 minutes to get lunch, only to return to see the U.S. electoral map glowing red, while currencies like the Mexican peso were in sharp decline. Mr. Attrill said the situation reminded him of the U.K.'s surprise decision to leave the European Union, which sent markets into a tailspin during Asian trading hours. "This has got a Brexit smell about it," he said. "Brexit, Trump coming to a country near you."

In Tokyo, whose large and liquid markets were some of the biggest open as late-night U.S. results rolled in, nervous analysts were revising calls. A Trump win would be a "very, very big negative surprise" for Japanese investors, said Masayuki Kubota, chief strategist at online brokerage Rakuten Securities. In case of a Clinton win, "I will say, 'Clinton wins but with a lead quite thin and must an fight an uphill battle against the populism of Trump,'" Mr. Kubota said. "Or my other option is to just say, 'Trump wins.'"

Takashi Hiroki, chief strategist at Monex Securities in Tokyo, said he was glued to his desk. "I will be watching the markets all day and the yen, by the second, by every second" he said. "I brought my lunch box from home so I am not stepping away from my desk today," he said.

Chinese equity investors were holding their breath as they watched the Shanghai Composite Index head south, after Mr. Trump's odds of winning the election rose. "It might still be too early to call the result, but clearly we are being dragged down by foreign markets that dread the prospects of a Trump presidency," said Zhang Gang, senior analyst at Central China Securities. "Thankfully our market will take a break at half past 11 and I tell you today's lunch will be the most important and thoughtful lunch we will ever have," Mr. Zhang said.

James Glynn, Shen Hong and Rachel Rosenthal contributed to this article.

Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 08, 2016 23:45 ET (04:45 GMT)

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