Stock market today: Stocks, bond yields and bitcoin advance as US election brings Republican gains

By ZIMO ZHONG and ELAINE KURTENBACH, Associated Press

HONG KONG (AP) — Share prices and enslaved yields surged Wednesday arsenic the Republican enactment gained power of the Senate and erstwhile President Donald Trump closed successful connected the 270 electoral votes needed to instrumentality him to the White House.

The afloat results of Tuesday’s election whitethorn not beryllium known for days arsenic officials number each the votes, but investors already were repositioning successful anticipation of sweeping gains by the Republicans, who took power of the Senate for the archetypal clip successful 4 years. The results of the House elections were not yet finalized.

Trump won the battleground authorities of Georgia, a Republican stronghold that had voted for Democrats successful 2020. A triumph successful North Carolina helped Trump constrictive Vice President Kamala Harris’ pathways to victory. Clinching Pennsylvania took him wrong 3 electoral votes of the 270 votes needed to go the adjacent president.

A currency trader walks by the screens showing the images of Republican statesmanlike nominee erstwhile President Donald Trump and Democratic statesmanlike nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, astatine a overseas speech dealing country successful Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Auguring gains for U.S. markets connected Wednesday, the aboriginal for the S&P 500 gained 1.9% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2.2%. The Nasdaq composite aboriginal was 1.7% higher.

The terms of bitcoin jumped astir 8% to a grounds $75,345.00, arsenic investors stake connected a triumph for Trump, who has pledged enactment for cryptocurrencies. It aboriginal fell backmost to $74,355.00.

Bond yields besides surged, with the output connected the 10-year Treasury climbing to 4.4% from 4.28% connected Tuesday.

“The markets are scrambling to fig retired what happens next, but for the clip being, the marketplace is pricing successful a higher maturation and higher ostentation outlook,” Peter Esho of Esho Capital said successful a commentary.

In aboriginal European trading, Germany’s DAX climbed 0.6% to 19,377.79, portion the CAC 40 successful Paris precocious 0.7% to 7,460.26. Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.7% astatine 8,233.12.

Markets worldwide person been fixated connected what the predetermination volition mean for U.S. economic, monetary and commercialized policy, arsenic good arsenic geopolitics. A divided successful Congress betwixt governmental parties would complicate policymaking, and a White House headed by Trump could person acold reaching ramifications fixed his enactment for crisp increases successful tariffs, particularly connected imports from China.

Currency traders ticker their machine monitors adjacent the screens showing the images of Republican statesmanlike nominee erstwhile President Donald Trump and Democratic statesmanlike nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, and the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, astatine a overseas speech dealing country successful Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

The wide U.S. banal marketplace has historically tended to emergence regardless of which enactment wins the White House, adjacent if each party’s policies tin assistance and wounded antithetic industries’ profits.

Since 1945, the S&P 500 has risen successful 73% of the years wherever a Democrat was president and 70% of the years erstwhile a Republican was the nation’s main executive, according to Sam Stovall, main concern strategist astatine CFRA.

The S&P 500 has risen astir 70% since the 2020 predetermination brought President Joe Biden into office. It rallied to records arsenic the U.S. system bounced backmost from the COVID-19 pandemic and managed to debar a recession contempt a leap successful inflation.

In Asian stock trading Wednesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 scale gained 2.6% to 39,480.67, portion the Kospi successful Seoul shed 0.9% to 2,553.90.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 roseate 0.8% to 8,199.50.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng scale fell 2.3% to 20,525.06, ending a three-day rally, arsenic investors sought safe-haven assets amid the uncertainties surrounding the U.S. election. The Hang Seng Tech Index slipped 2.5%, portion the Shanghai Composite scale edged 0.1% lower, to 3,383.81.

Trump has vowed to sharply rise tariffs connected imports from China and different countries, darkening the outlook for Chinese exporters astatine a clip erstwhile Beijing has relied heavy connected ramping up manufacturing to effort to revive its slowing economy.

“Positive outcomes for Harris are expected to boost Asian assets, portion Trump gains whitethorn exert downward pressure,” Anderson Alves of ActivTrades said successful a commentary.

Chinese markets person been among the astir progressive successful the portion this week arsenic leaders clasp a gathering of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the country’s legislature.

The gathering is expected to present much moves to assistance spur faster economical maturation and resoluteness mounting levels of section authorities debt. On Tuesday, upbeat comments by Premier Li Qiang astir the imaginable for some fiscal and monetary policies helped assistance stock benchmarks successful Hong Kong and Shanghai by much than 2%. Li besides expressed assurance that China volition attain its maturation people of astir 5% this year.

On Tuesday, U.S. stocks precocious arsenic voters headed to the polls and caller information showed the system remains healthy. The S&P 500 roseate 1.2% and the Dow industrials climbed 1%. The Nasdaq composite gained 1.4%.

Later this week, the Federal Reserve is owed to marque a determination connected involvement rates. The wide anticipation is for the U.S. cardinal slope to chopped its main involvement complaint for a 2nd clip and apt again successful December.

In different dealings aboriginal Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude lipid mislaid 90 cents to $71.09 per barrel. Brent crude, the planetary standard, gave up $1.00 cents to $74.53 per barrel.

A Trump triumph was expected to bolster the worth of the dollar, which surged to 154.02 Japanese yen from 151.62 yen precocious Tuesday.

The euro slipped to $1.0741 from $1.0931.