Wall Street stocks were looking at a potentially upbeat start on Wednesday, as U.S. stock futures climbed in the wake of midterm elections that pulled no major punches, and the dollar fell.
How are the benchmarks performing?
AFP/Getty Images Dem. Congresswomen Ayanna Pressley addresses the audience in Boston, Massachusetts on November 6, 2018.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YMZ8, +0.63% rose 148 points, or 0.6%, to 25,792, while S&P 500 futures ESZ8, +0.78% gained 20.25 points, or 0.7%, to 2,779.25. Nasdaq-100 NQZ8, +1.24% jumped 81 points, or 1.2%, to 7,098.50. DJIA, +0.68%
On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.68% rose 173.31 points, or 0.68%, to 25,635.01, the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.63% rose 0.63%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.64% climbed 0.64%, or 47.11 points, at 7,375.96.
The Dow closed at a session high, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended the day just shy of Tuesday’s best levels.
What’s driving the market?
U.S. midterm election results largely fell in line with forecasters’ prediction, with Democrats set to take control of the House and Republicans maintaining their grip on the Senate. The results may have implications for President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda, but for now, markets look upbeat as any immediate uncertainty fades.
Read: How the midterms made history: Numerous firsts emerge from Election Night results
There have also been signals of compromise from Trump, who talked about trying to work with the opposite side as indications grew earlier in the week that Democrats would see a House victory.
Watch: How a divided Congress could defy gridlock
Investors may quickly turn their attention to a two-day Federal Reserve meeting that wraps up on Thursday, though the central bank isn’t expected to make a move on interest rates.
What are strategists saying?
“At the margin, the outcome of the Midterm elections in the U.S. will be to hinder further fiscal easing, increasing the likelihood that the economic cycle is peaking, but leave the president free to continue his trade policies,” said Kit Juckes, global macro strategist at Société Générale, in a note.
The “change in power in the House will make President Trump’s life a bit harder but it seems that market participants are focusing on the more important issues that will have a longer-lasting effect on stocks, namely the US-China trade war and Fed’s tightening cycle,” said Konstantinos Anthis, head of research at ADSS.
How are other markets trading?
European stocks SXXP, +1.12% pushed higher across the board, while in Asia, stocks closed on a mixed note.
The greenback has seen some of the biggest moves in the wake of midterms, with the ICE Dollar Index DXY, -0.48% last down 0.4% to 95.911.
Oil prices CLZ8, -0.02% fell 0.4%, as gold futures GCZ8, +0.65% rose 0.7%.
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