By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 18th, 2024
While the Americans are voting for their President, major stock indices are climbing higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX: .DJI) is up 1.6% as election day dawns on Americans. The Dow added about 423 points to close at 26,925.05 on Monday, November 2. Some stocks are showing bullish retracements from the October dip, owing to sell-off fears stirred by new COVID-19 cases.
The S&P 500 Index (INDEXSP: .INX) surged 1.23% to 3,310.24 while the Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ: .IXIC) advanced by 46.02 points or 0.42% to close at 10,957.61. The advancement of the indices defied the uncertainties that surround the US presidential elections. The elections which are between the incumbent Donald Trump and former Vice-President Joe Biden will define a lot for Wall Street in terms of policies.
As reported by Coinspeaker, the build-up to the election has had a defining impact on the Dow. The index that measures the stock performance of 30 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States dropped by 157 points on Oct. 31 as it records its worst record since the lockdowns of March.
On the tech front, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB) which closed 0.67% on Tuesday to $261.36 has advanced in the pre-market with a 0.44% rise. Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) also recorded a meager gain in the pre-market with a 0.40% increment. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) also recorded 0.094% and 0.43% respectively.
“Today’s strong stock market gain was fueled by technical support — a stock market which bounced decisively from its recent lows, a nod to ongoing economic momentum, despite a recent spike in Covid cases,” Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at the Leuthold Group, told CNBC. “As the election finally nears, investors who were selling on the rumor may now be buying on the news, and finally, after almost a 10% decline in the last month, buying on the dip is back.”
Dow Jones, Stock Indices Await the Results of the Presidential Election
With the election is so much on everyone’s mind, the next couple of days we will see the winner of the keenly contested election emerge. According to media reports, Democratic candidate Joe Biden lead in the national polls conducted by NBC/Wall Street Journal leading by 52% against the 42% clinched by the incumbent president.
A total of about 94 million votes had been cast before today’s election day, a number almost the same as the total votes cast back in the 2016 general elections. This suggests the increasing interest of the American voting population in governance.
The round-up of the election will be preceded by the continuation of the stimulus bill negotiations which when all parties have consented and the checks are dished out to the right quarters will impact the businesses that make up the Dow Jones as well as other Wall Street firms and indices.