(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window)
* Banks, construction companies rise on stimulus bets
* Wall Street's fear gauge hits one-week low
* Indexes up: Dow 1.98%, S&P 1.88%, Nasdaq 2.04%
(Updates to early afternoon)
By Medha Singh and Shivani Kumaresan
Nov 3 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes jumped on
Tuesday as investors bet that one of the country's most divisive
presidential races could end with a clear victory for Democratic
nominee Joe Biden and a swift deal on more fiscal stimulus.
All 11 major S&P indexes were up in morning trading, led by
financial .SPSY , healthcare .SPXHC and industrial .SPLRCI
stocks as investors also reined in some of the bets on post-vote
volatility that dominated in recent weeks .VIX .
Not all of the infrastructure and other stocks which
analysts have identified as likely winners from a Democrat sweep
were up, with marijuana and renewable energy companies down,
some as much as 4%.
The lead for Biden in national opinion polls, however, has
raised expectations for a decisive outcome in Tuesday's election
and a post-election stimulus package that would make good on his
promises of infrastructure spending. "There is some optimism that we might have a quick
resolution to the election," said Ryan Detrick, senior market
strategist for LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"The market is going to accept a couple of days (of delay)
but if we get to Friday and it looks like it's going to take
longer than that, that could upset markets and we could lose a
lot of these big gains."
Democrats are also favored to emerge from 14 hotly contested
U.S. Senate races with full control of Congress, although final
results from at least five of those contests may not be
available for days, and in some cases, months. Still, the competition in swing states is seen as close
enough that President Donald Trump could piece together the 270
Electoral College votes he needs to stay in the White House for
another four years. U.S. stock index futures plunged on Election Night 2016 when
it appeared Trump was becoming more likely to pull out an upset
victory against then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The
benchmark S&P 500 has since risen 55% as lower tax rates under
the Trump administration boosted corporate profits.
Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital
Partners in Pittsburgh, said a Biden victory could lead to some
inflation, which would be beneficial to banks in particular.
"A Federal Reserve committed to keeping rates lower and yet
allowing not a flat curve, but one with some steepening to it,
and then some inflation and you get yourself a hip hip hooray
for banks."
The S&P banking subindex .SPXBK surged 2.5% to its highest
in more than a week, while industrial stocks such as Caterpillar
Inc CAT.N and Honeywell International Inc HON.N rose about
2% each.
At 01:01 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
rose 533.88 points, or 1.98%, to 27,458.93 and the S&P 500
.SPX gained 62.16 points, or 1.88%, to 3,372.40. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC gained 224.05 points, or 2.04%, to 11,181.66.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 5.2-to-1 on the NYSE
and 3.6-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 26 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 44 new highs and 17 new lows.
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"Biden" shares vs "Trump" shares https://tmsnrt.rs/3881PWc
Markets under different presidents during history https://tmsnrt.rs/3p35jj4
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