The heated debate between Trump and Harris provides some policy details for Wall Street, by Investing.com

Investing.com — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic rival Kamala Harris traded blows on Tuesday in a heated debate, clashing over everything from immigration to the economy.

But following the highly anticipated event, which came at a time when Trump and Harris are neck and neck in national polls, investors were left with few details on how either hopeful would approach key issues such as tariffs, taxes and regulations.

During the campaign, Trump pledged to cut corporate taxes and take a tougher stance on tariffs. Harris, by contrast, has promised to raise corporate taxes. Analysts have estimated that while Trump’s plan could help boost company profits, it may also fuel inflation. But they also noted that Harris’ proposal, on the other hand, could hurt corporate profits.

During the debate, Harris took aim at Trump’s policy of imposing high tariffs on foreign goods, arguing that it would effectively be a tax on the middle class. Trump defended the plan, saying it would not lead to higher prices for Americans and attacked Harris for overseeing a period of high inflation during the Biden administration.

which had been affected by trade tensions between Washington and Beijing during Trump’s previous term in the White House, strengthened against the dollar.

Betting favored Harris immediately after the debate, with the incumbent vice president’s chances of winning the ballot rising to 56 percent from 53 percent before the event, according to data from online prediction market PredictIt cited by Reuters. Trump dropped to 48% from 52%.

Here’s a look at the reactions of several analysts:

TD Cowen

“This was not (…) a debate about the economy. We had no substantive discussions about key economic issues, including whether the White House should play a role in setting interest rates or how tariffs might affect inflation and economic growth”,

BTIG

Analysts at BTIG said in a note to clients that Harris “won the night” and could have boosted his appeal to undecided voters, but signaled that the debate “will do little to change partisans on both sides of the the ideological spectrum”.

Wolfe Research

“We expected politics to come into this debate in the sense that both candidates needed to talk about their agendas to accomplish their goals, but not in the sense that they would go crazy or announce new proposals. Of course, they largely highlighted proposals they’ve already floated, though investors should take note of Trump’s continued focus on tariffs (…) — he’s clearly refused to budge on a tariff overall of 20% at the start of the debate.”

Raymond James

“In recent polls, undecided voters say they want to know more about Harris and her policies before supporting her. While we expect most polls, pundits and betting markets to declare Harris the winner, the continued lack of specific policy details may not satisfy the information. threshold and we continue to expect close elections”.

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“Specific policy details were lacking, although the issue of tariffs has resurfaced as Trump continues to make it a key part of his platform. Interestingly, despite Harris discussing potential fiscal expansion policies, yields actually fell as the debate progressed and so did Harris’ bets. The market probabilities have increased. We expect this to be the result of investors recognizing that a Harris victory is highly unlikely to have a Democratic Senate, and therefore these policies are unlikely to come to fruition even if she wins the White House.