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* Biden takes narrow lead in Georgia, Pennsylvania
* S&P 500, Nasdaq score biggest weekly rise since April
* Investors eye Georgia runoff for U.S. Senate
(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments
to close)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, Nov 6 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks hovered near
unchanged on Friday to close out with a big weekly gain as
Democratic challenger Joe Biden edged closer to victory in the
presidential election, while the monthly jobs report underscored
the hurdles still facing the economy.
Biden built on narrow leads in Pennsylvania and Georgia,
putting him on the verge of winning the White House, although
President Donald Trump has filed lawsuits in battleground states
to contest the results. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq notched their biggest weekly
percentage gains since April as the prospect of a policy
gridlock in Washington eased worries a Biden administration
might tighten regulations on U.S. companies.
"It's not fairytale land, we don't go up every day so at
some point you would think we would see a little bit of downward
pressure," said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD
Ameritrade in Chicago.
Control of the U.S. Senate could hinge on four as-yet
undecided races. If Republicans retain their majority, they
would likely block large parts of Biden's legislative agenda,
including expanding healthcare and fighting climate change.
"There is some concern with regards to if Biden creeps ahead
or wins Georgia then there is chance that those (Senate) seats
will follow. That's what people are reading into this," said
Yousef Abbasi, global market strategist at Stonex Group Inc, New
York.
The government's closely watched report showed unemployment
dropped sharply to 6.9% last month from 7.7% in September, but
job recovery slowed as fiscal support waned and coronavirus
cases surged. After the jobs report, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell said economic statistics indicated Congress should
enact a smaller coronavirus stimulus package that is highly
targeted at the pandemic's effects. Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell
96.68 points, or 0.34%, to 28,293.5, the S&P 500 .SPX lost
4.05 points, or 0.12%, to 3,506.4 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC dropped 4.43 points, or 0.04%, to 11,886.50.
Coty Inc COTY.N surged as the cosmetics maker beat
analysts' estimates for quarterly revenue, while T-Mobile US Inc
TMUS.O gained after adding more phone subscribers than
analysts had expected in the third quarter. Electronic Arts Inc EA.O slumped after the video game
maker fell short of quarterly sales estimates. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
S&P 500 five day periods after presidential elections https://tmsnrt.rs/3k3IwQr
USA-JOBS-UNEMPLOYMENT-PARTICIPATION interactive https://reut.rs/39ER8aX
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