After sharp declines last week, U.S. stocks rebounded strongly Monday—the day before what may stand to be one of the important, and contentious, elections in U.S. history. Last week’s nearly 6% slide in the S&P 500 might have prompted some bargain shopping as investors looked for undervalued names. By Monday’s close, the Dow was up more than 400 points, while the S&P added 40, and the TSX climbed 116.
Markets turned in an even stronger performance on Election Day as tens of millions of Americans headed to the polls. The Dow had its best day since July, adding 555 points, while the S&P and Nasdaq each added nearly 2%. In Canada, the TSX rose 242 points, led by the tech and financial sectors.
While investors were hoping for a clear election result, a definitive outcome looks to be days, if not weeks away, as both Biden and Trump await the final tallies in a number of battleground states.
Despite the uncertainty, U.S. stocks had their best day after a presidential election on record, led by a rally in tech shares Wednesday. The S&P 500 gained 74 points, its biggest one-day point gain since June, while the Nasdaq surged nearly 4%, gaining 430 points in its best single-day performance since April. Meanwhile, U.S. government-bond yields fell sharply Wednesday, as the prospects for a massive stimulus waned. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note declined 113 basis points to settle at 0.768%.
U.S. stocks surged again on Thursday, on track for their strongest weekly rally since April, as investors took a positive view of a potentially divided Congress. By Thursday’s close, the Dow was up 542 points, while the Nasdaq and TSX each added 300 points.
Finally, in currency news, the loonie hit a near two-month high against the greenback Thursday as the safe-haven dollar declined ahead of a Fed policy meeting to weigh the prospects for more stimulus. The loonie reached its strongest intraday level since early September, hitting 76.6 cents (US).
source https://richarddri.ca/markets-register-strong-gains-despite-election-uncertainty/
Dri Financial Group 