Trump edges closer to White House win

Republican Donald Trump edged closer to winning the White House with a series of shocking wins in key states such as Florida and Ohio, rattling world markets that had expected Democrat Hillary Clinton to defeat the political outsider in Tuesday's U.S. election.

With investors worried a Trump victory could cause economic and global uncertainty, investors fled risky assets such as stocks. In overnight trading, S&P 500 index futures fell 5 percent to hit their so-called limit down levels, indicating they would not be permitted to trade any lower until day-side trading resumed on Wednesday morning.

Trump surged to wins in Florida, Ohio, Iowa and North Carolina, and Fox News projected a win for him in Wisconsin. With voting completed across the country, he also narrowly led in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona, pushing him closer to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the state-by-state fight for the White House.

But the outcome remained uncertain. Clinton still had a path to reach 270 electoral votes if she could sweep the remaining too-close-to-call battleground states including Pennsylvania, Michigan and New Hampshire, and pull off an upset win in Arizona.Shortly after Fox called Wisconsin for Trump, celebrating supporters at his election night 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 the volatile Trump.

A packed crowd in the lobby of Trump's new hotel in Washington D.C. broke into chants of "lock her up" and "USA, USA, USA" as state after state was called for Trump.As of 12:25 a.m. EST (0525 GMT on Wednesday), Trump had 244 electoral votes to Clinton's 215, with U.S. television networks projecting the winner in 42 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Republicans also were projected to maintain control of the U.S. House of Representatives, and appeared to be heading toward keeping their majority in the U.S. Senate. If Trump wins the White House, he would have a greater chance of enacting his agenda with a Republican-led Congress.

As the evening wore on, Clinton, 69, acknowledged the unexpectedly close results given her lead in opinion polls going into Election Day. "This team has so much to be proud of. Whatever happens tonight, thank you for everything," Clinton said on Twitter.

A wealthy real-estate developer and former reality TV host, the 70-year-old 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.