America votes, peak oil by 2029 and discrimination against ‘night owls’

Today’s the day. Americans are going to the polls to choose between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump after the most ill-tempered and divisive campaign in living memory.

Mrs Clinton made her final pitch for the White House at a big rally in Philadelphia on Monday night while Mr Trump was making his penultimate plea to voters in New Hampshire. Markets rallied as investors grew more confident of a Clinton victory despite polls that showed her with a narrow lead.

The swing states to watch include Arizona, Florida, Colorado and North Carolina, and state officials are preparing for an unusually chaotic election day thanks to long lines and voter intimidation. One nationwide poll gives Mrs Clinton a 90 per cent chance of winning and the result could be revealed as early as 9pm EST.

Meanwhile, there are questions about whether the Supreme Court will be able to resolve a deadlock in the result. The court is split down the middle and has only eight justices because Republican senators have refused to consider President Obama’s candidate to fill the vacant seat. (FT, WaPo, Reuters, NYT, Politico)

We are making all of our US election coverage free to read from 5am EST Tuesday to 5am EST Wednesday. You can follow the action as it happens on the FT’s liveblog. After the vote, make sense of the result. Join FT journalists for drinks and discussion about US politics and what happens next. Find out more here.

In the news

Iranian gas deal France’s Total and China National Petroleum Corp have signed the first major agreement with Tehran for the development of its gasfields since the loosening of sanctions in January. It is a breakthrough in Iran’s efforts to attract renewed investment in its outdated energy infrastructure and unlock some of the world’s biggest oil and gas reserves. (FT)

Japan’s sobering reality The surging yen has wiped off nearly $30bn from the first-half revenues of eight of Japan’s biggest manufacturers including Sony and Honda, as companies brace themselves for the worst earnings slump in five years. (FT)

Peak oil by 2029 Opec has warned that demand for oil could peak within 13 years as countries shift away from fossil fuels to other forms of energy to meet targets set in the the Paris climate agreement. The forecast is likely to be welcomed by environmental campaigners and comes as a fresh round of UN climate talks is under way in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh. (FT, Guardian)

Murder most foul in Hong Kong British banker Rurik Jutting has been found guilty of murder by a court in Hong Kong, bringing to an end a disturbing 10-day trial in which the court was shown Jutting’s own video footage of the torture and murder of one of the victims. He received a life sentence. (South China Morning Post)

Southeast Asia’s LNG building boom Energy providers in the region will double annual LNG receiving capacity to some 50m tons over the next five years. That equates to about 20 per cent of the LNG carried on tankers worldwide in 2015. (NAR)

It’s a big day for

The US There’s an election. Perhaps you’ve heard. (FT)

Keep up with the important business, economic and political stories in the coming days with the FT’s Week Ahead.

Food for thought

Hong Kong explainer What does China’s latest intervention mean for the former British colony, why is the Chinese government so determined to act and what does this mean for the semi-autonomous city’s future? One opposition legislator calls it the “beginning of the end of Hong Kong”. (FT, The Guardian)

Cheque book diplomacy In the space of a few weeks, Beijing demonstrated that a concerted charm — and cash — offensive in Asia could cause even staunch US allies to wobble in their pro-Washington orbits. (FT)

650,000 emails in eight days “You can’t do it, folks. Hillary Clinton is guilty,” Donald Trump said in a campaign speech. Actually, the FBI can review hundreds of thousands of emails in a week. It is not rocket science, either. (Wired)

Venezuela: a failing state How did the country go from South America’s richest to one with the world’s highest inflation rate, plagued by malnutrition and violence? (New Yorker)

Night owl or morning lark? Some neuroscientists are trying to change school and work hours that discriminate against non-morning people. There are behavioural, emotional, and cognitive differences between people who are “night owls” and people who are “morning larks”. (The Atlantic)

Video of the day

The ugliest US presidential race The battle to be the next president has seen some of the most dramatic and ugly campaigning in recent US history. (FT)