Trump wins Florida, sending global markets spiraling

The presidential match-up between Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and her Republican rival Donald Trump was hard-fought, particularly in the key battleground of Florida. The state, which boasts a large Latino population, initially appeared to be going the way of Clinton, but ultimately gifted Trump the simplest of paths to the White House.

With more than 99% of precincts reporting, Trump was declared victorious in the Sunshine State. According to The Guardian, the Republican nominee took home 49.1% of the votes compared to Clinton's 47.7%. Florida's 29 electoral votes gave Trump an important edge over Clinton and put him on the road to the key figure of 270.

However early voting in the state gave analysts a wildly different picture of who would win on 8 November. Latino voters outpaced their 2012 early voting numbers, casting about 14% of the state's 5.7 million early and absentee ballots by Friday (4 November).

Florida was not the only battleground state to go to Trump. The real estate mogul turned presidential nominee also claimed victory in North Carolina and Ohio, giving him an additional 33 electoral votes. Those wins made it nearly impossible for Clinton to claim the 270 electoral votes needed to win the general election.

At last count, Trump led 238 to Clinton's 209 electoral votes. Clinton has no clear path to victory, despite Maine, Minnesota, Nevada and Pennsylvania leaning blue. Trump, on the other hand, needs just 32 electoral votes, which he can easily win by taking home Alaska, Arizona, Michigan, New Hampshire and Wisconsin.

Trump's continued victories on his way to the White House have also caused financial markets abroad and at home to plummet. According to The New York Times, Asian markets traded sharply lower. Japan's Nikkei 225 traded down around 5.3% at the time of publishing, while China's Hang Seng traded down around 2.8%. Meanwhile in the US, Dow Jones futures dropped by as much as 600 points in after-hours trading.