The U.S. presidential election was not tainted by widespread voter fraud or irregularities in how ballots were counted, despite a huge effort by President Donald Trump to prove otherwise.

Democrat Joe Biden is now leading President Donald Trump in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, bringing him to the cusp of the presidency.

Election officials in key battleground states pushed back on claims by the Trump campaign that Republican poll watchers were being improperly denied access to observe the counting of ballots, saying Thursday that rules were being followed and they were committed to transparency.

For 40 hours, President Donald Trump fumed in private and tweeted his grievances in all caps.

It was at the same time shocking and utterly to be expected.

U.S. futures rose and Asia markets were mostly higher on Wednesday as investors took an optimistic stance on the still undecided U.S. presidential election.