Futures of U.S. stocks rose Tuesday night in trading as investors digested the likely event of a Democratic Congress and continued to watch the U.S. Capitol riots.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 125 points. The S&P 500 futures gained 0.6% and the Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.9%.
During Wednesday’s trading session, markets were not greatly affected by the chaos in Washington caused by the pro-Trump riots at the U.S. Capitol. Lawmakers had just begun the electoral process of counting the votes of the Electoral College and formally declared the president-elect, Joe Biden, the winner when the protesters stormed the chamber.
On Wednesday evening, the Capitol building was secured and Congress reconvened to continue the process to confirm Biden’s victory. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate will certify the winner of the 2020 election Wednesday night.
“The strength of the country is our institutions and our laws,” Ed Keon of QMA told CNBC. “Seeing this is daunting, but we will prevail and I think that is the message of the markets.”
“I think the reason the markets aren’t too baffled is that it won’t change the power transition,” added Tom Lee, co-founder of Fundstrat Global Advisors.
On Wednesday, U.S. stock prices rose as Georgia’s second Senate election results emerged. Minutes after the final bell, NBC projected Democrat Jon Ossoff defeating Republican David Perdue. This comes after Democrat Raphael Warnock, previously screened by NBC, defeated Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler in his second round.
Georgia’s election results create a 50-50 Senate that will be controlled by Democrats, due to the tiebreaker vote by President-elect Kamala Harris. A Democratic Senate is widely expected to push for a more robust stimulus package, the speculation that spurred actions on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 400 points, or 1.4%, to close at a record high. The S&P 500 rose 0.57%, reaching an intraday all-time high during the session. The two averages closed their highs amid the unrest.
The Nasdaq Composite was the relatively low performer, down 0.6% as Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google-Alphabet all closed lower.
Russell 2000’s minimum benchmark jumped nearly 4% to surpass the 2,050 level in hopes of further fiscal aid.
The ten-year Treasury yield was above 1% for the first time since the pandemic defeat on Tuesday afternoon in March. The jump in yields led to a rebound in bank stocks on Wednesday.
In the midst of the chaos, the Bitcoin cryptocurrency topped $ 36,000.
The Department of Labor released last week’s unemployment claims on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect 815,000 Americans to file for unemployment last week, compared to 787,000 claims the previous week.
Bed Bath & Beyond, Constellation Brands, Walgreens Boots Alliance and Conagra report their quarterly earnings before the bell on Thursday. Chipmaker Micron reports after the bell.
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