• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 545.29 points, or 2.13 percent, to 26,180.3, the S&P 500 gained 58.44 points, or 2.12 percent, to 2,813.89, and the Nasdaq Composite added 194.79 points, or 2.64 percent, to 7,570.75.
The CBOE Volatility Index, the most widely followed gauge of expected near-term gyrations for the S&P 500, finished down 3.55 points at 16.36, its lowest close in about a month.
Wall Street rose 2 percent on Wednesday, led by the technology and healthcare sectors as investors breathed a sigh of relief following the U.S. midterm elections and made bets that a divided Congress would be good news for equities.
• The S&P’s biggest boosts came from the S&P technology sector and the healthcare stocks, with both indexes gaining 2.9 percent. The consumer discretionary sector climbed 3.1percent, spurred by a 6.9 percent rise in Amazon.com shares. Amazon provided the single biggest boost to the S&P 500.
• “Now we’re in an environment that people can understand again so they’ll be willing to put some money back on the table. There was a little fear out there,” said Peter Tuz, president at Chase Investment Counsel Corp in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“This outcome probably provides the most paralysis for new policies,” said Brian Nick, chief investment strategist for Nuveen Asset Management in New York, adding that growth sectors such as tech and healthcare would continue to be strong.
“In a scenario where there’s no (additional) fiscal stimulus and we’re not experiencing severe growth concerns in terms of contraction, they’re the best bet,” he said.
• Some strategists said Democratic control of the House means that Trump will have a harder time gaining support for efforts to impose new regulations on Amazon.com.
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• Stocks in Asia were higher in the morning after a stateside rally saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 record their best post-midterm elections rally since 1982.
Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 1.89 percent in early trade while the Topix index also saw gains of 1.72 percent. South Korea's Kospi also advanced by 1.75 percent.
• China's markets, which are set to open at 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN, will be closely watched by investors following the U.S. midterm election results — even though experts predicted the outcome would have little impact on the two countries' ongoing trade war.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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