New York — Democrat Hillary Clinton held a narrow lead in opinion polls over Republican Donald Trump as millions of Americans turned out on Tuesday to vote for the next president after one of the most negative campaigns in US history. In a battle that focused on the character of the candidates, Clinton, 69, a former secretary of state, senator and first lady, and Trump, 70, a New York businessman and former reality TV star, made their final, fervent appeals to supporters late on Monday to turn out the vote. Clinton led Trump, by 44% to 39%, in the last Reuters/Ipsos national tracking poll before election day. A Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation poll gave Clinton a 90% chance of defeating Trump and said she was on track to win 303 electoral college votes out of 270 needed. World financial markets were closely watching the outcome of the election, with stocks up slightly on cautious expectations of a Clinton win. The dollar and bond yields slipped, while gold inched up. US stocks had...
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