US benchmark equity indexes saw an upswing on Tuesday as traders anticipated the outcomes of the presidential election. The Nasdaq Composite surged by 1.4% to reach 18,439.2, while the S&P 500 increased by 1.2% to 5,782.8. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 1% to 42,221.9. All sectors experienced gains, with consumer discretionary and industrials leading the way. As voters in the US flocked to polling stations to elect the nation's next president, Democratic Party nominee and current Vice President Kamala Harris faced off against Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump.
Wall Street is keenly focused on pivotal swing states, bracing for possible fluctuations in market performance as the electoral results unfold. Analysts predict it may take several days for the final vote counts to emerge, adding to the uncertainty. Wells Fargo Investment Institute noted, "The US presidential election likely will be decided by a few thousand voters across a handful of swing states." On the financial front, the US two-year yield saw a slight rise of 1.5 basis points to 4.19%, while the ten-year rate dipped by three basis points to 4.28%.
Further economic news indicated that the US services sector continued to expand in October; data from the Institute for Supply Management revealed a quicker growth rate sequentially, although S&P Global pointed to a minor slowdown. TD Economics commented, "With measures of new orders and business activity still at healthy levels, the backbone of consumer spending is likely to remain a sturdy contributor to growth in the fourth quarter and into next year." Conversely, the ISM and S&P Global reported that the US manufacturing sector stayed in contraction territory last month due to weakness in output.
Additionally, the US trade deficit experienced an increase in September as goods imports rose, while both goods and services exports decreased, based on government data released on Tuesday. Oxford Economics added, "The outcome of the election could add upside risk to imports if importers pre-empt potential tariff increases in the event of a Trump presidency." In commodity markets, West Texas Intermediate crude oil climbed by 1% to $72.18 per barrel on Tuesday. In company-specific news, Palantir Technologies saw its shares soar nearly 24%, making it the top performer on the S&P 500.
The software developer posted stronger-than-expected third-quarter results late Monday and raised its full-year guidance, driven by the soaring demand for artificial intelligence solutions. GlobalFoundries also stood out as the leading gainer on the Nasdaq Tuesday, climbing 15% after delivering a third-quarter performance that exceeded expectations.
In contrast, Celanese faced a significant drop, with shares plummeting by 26%, marking it as the worst performer on the S&P 500 following a disappointing third-quarter report released late Monday. NXP Semiconductors experienced a 5.2% decline on Tuesday, contributing to the list of steepest decliners on both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq after revealing third-quarter results that fell short of last year’s figures.
The company’s fourth-quarter forecast also lagged behind market expectations. Finally, in precious metals, gold saw a modest increase of 0.3% to reach $2,753.70 per troy ounce, while silver gained 0.6% to land at $32.79 per ounce..