Dow steady above 18K post-Election Day

Despite fears of a financial meltdown following the election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States, the U.S. stock market appeared to be steady in early and afternoon trading. The Dow was over 18,300 as Wall Street got down to business Wednesday.

Prior to trading, Wall Street index futures and Asian stock benchmarks tumbled on the rising possibility of a Trump presidency.

In Asian trading, Japan's Nikkei 225 index plunged 4.2 percent to 16,458.75 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slumped 2.8 percent to 22,262.74. Benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia also lost ground.

Energy markets were also roiled. Benchmark U.S. crude futures lost $1.35, or 3 percent, to $43.63 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

With the Associated Press