Stock markets fell modestly, while bonds and the dollar held steady on Wednesday after the Democrats gained control of the House of Representatives and stood poised to capture the Senate.

By midday in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 0.2 per cent to 12,135.16, while London’s FTSE 100 ended 0.08 per cent per cent lower to 6239 and the FTSE Eurofirst index of Europe’s top 300 companies shed 0.06 per cent to 1,469.9. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 Average fell 1.1 per cent to 16,215.74.