(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
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* Nasdaq futures surge on Big Tech play
* Banks track declines in Treasury yields
* Prison stocks decline as Biden resumes lead in betting
markets
* Investors want decisive result and path to stimulus
* Futures up: Dow 0.4%, S&P 1.7%, Nasdaq 3.7%
(Adds comment, details; updates prices)
By Sagarika Jaisinghani and Medha Singh
Nov 4 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to
open sharply higher on Wednesday as the race for the White House
went down to the wire, although investors remained worried about
the prospect of a contested result.
Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic contender
Joe Biden both claimed they were on course for victory after
results for a majority of states were called. Trump went
further, claiming falsely that the election was being "stolen"
from him with millions of votes still uncounted. The knife-edge election and the prospect of an acrimonious
legal battle to determine the winner sent S&P e-mini futures
EScv1 tumbling 1.15% earlier, but they recovered to trade up
1.7% by 08:43 a.m. ET (1343 GMT).
"While we still don't have full results, it looks like
instead of a red wave or blue wave scenario — with all respect
to Prince — we have more of a purple rain scenario with gridlock
being the most likely outcome," said Brian Jacobsen, senior
investment strategist at Wells Fargo Asset Management in
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.
"That could mean less likelihood of fiscal stimulus, but it
could also mean a lower likelihood of big changes to tax policy
or regulatory policies."
Trump won the battlegrounds of Florida, Ohio and Texas,
dashing Biden's hopes for a decisive early victory, but the
former vice president said he was confident and was on track to
winning the White House by taking three key Rust Belt states.
Biden was also back as favorite to win the election in
online betting markets, according to data from three
aggregators, after he overtook Trump in the state of Wisconsin.
Investors have said they favor a definitive, fast resolution
to the election as that would clear the way for a deal on a
stimulus package to help the damaged domestic economy. Analysts
have also said the market will be comfortable with a clear Trump
victory. Shares of technology mega-caps including Apple Inc AAPL.O ,
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O and Facebook Inc FB.O surged more than
3% in premarket trading with some investors pointing to a lower
threat of antitrust scrutiny for Big Tech under Trump than under
a Biden presidency.
Chances faded for Democrats to score a big win in the Senate
as Republicans held the line in several contests that had seemed
up for grabs. "While the votes are still being counted, the market is
relieved that no matter who wins the presidency, the Senate
remains unchanged and the Congress remains unchanged," said
Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital
Securities in New York.
Some infrastructure, renewable energy TAN and marijuana
MJ stocks, seen as likely winners from a Biden presidency,
sank as much as 5%. Still, the prospect of political uncertainty also sent
investors to U.S. Treasuries, sparking the biggest one-day drop
in 10- and 30-year bond yields since June. Shares of U.S. banks,
which typically track Treasury yields, slipped between 1.1% and
2.5%. US/
Private prison operators Geo Group GEO.N and CoreCivic Inc
CXW.N gave up gains to fall 1.2% and 2.8% respectively as
Biden, who has committed to ending the federal government's use
of private prisons, was back as the favorite to win the election
among online betters. At 08:43 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were up 116 points,
or 0.42% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were up 415.25 points,
or 3.68%.
On election night in 2016, U.S. futures plunged as Trump
pulled off an upset victory against Democrat Hillary Clinton.
However, the next day marked the start of the so-called "Trump
rally" that saw the S&P 500 jump 5% in a month, fueled by
promises of massive tax cuts and financial deregulation.
The S&P 500 has climbed about 57% since Trump's election in
2016, with the information technology index .SPLRCT surging
149% and energy .SPNY tumbling 56%, according to Datastream.
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S&P 500 in first terms: Trump vs Obama https://tmsnrt.rs/34Vuvjy
Markets under different presidents during history https://tmsnrt.rs/3p35jj4
"Biden" shares vs "Trump" shares https://tmsnrt.rs/38aZb1V
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