"Our economy is recovering, a decade of war is ending, a long campaign is now over"
- U.S. President Barack Obama
President Barrack Obama was re-elected for the second term with 274 electoral college votes, four more than needed. However, the new president of the world's biggest economy has to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff", a series of tax and budget changes that are likely to hit the U.S. economy in January. Moreover, Obama is the first president, who was re-elected, with the unemployment as high as it is - 7.9%. Despite the slight improvement in the economy, there are concerns that the labour market may not improve anytime soon, and that the economic recovery may run out of steam.
"Our economy is recovering, a decade of war is ending, a long campaign is now over," Obama told cheering supporters in Chicago.
"I so wish that I had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in another direction, but the nation chose another leader," Romney said in Boston.
Standard & Poor's 500 plunged 2.37 per cent to 1,394.53. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 2.36 per cent to 12,932.73. The Nasdaq Composite also closed with sharp losses—2.48 per cent, or 74.65 points—at 2,937.29.
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