As US election nears, expect more self-serving guff from Donald Trump on his positive impact on stock markets

The first debate in the 2024 republican presidential primary took place last week. Should investors care?

No, says UBS economist Paul Donovan.

Such debates are little more than “point scoring, posturing, and slapstick politics”, and next year’s election is too far off to excite investor attention.

However, RBC’s Lori Calvasina says the election race has lately “been coming up more in our conversations”, with the 2024 campaign likely to come more into focus as investors weigh up the 2024 outlook.

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Still, the TV debates look irrelevant right now, given the runaway leader in republican polls – Donald Trump – is choosing to skip them.

Of course, Trump sees himself as God’s gift to the stock market, taking credit when indices made gains, only to blame declines on external factors. If he retains his front-runner status, expect to hear more such self-serving guff early next year.