(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window)
* Biden takes narrow lead in key states of Georgia,
Pennsylvania
* Tech heavyweights slip after sharp weekly gains
* Value stocks among rare gainers in early trading
* S&P 500, Nasdaq track best week since April
* Indexes off: Dow 0.28%, S&P 0.24%, Nasdaq 0.74%
(Updates to market open)
By Medha Singh and Susan Mathew
Nov 6 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes gave back some
of this week's sharp gains on Friday as investors awaited the
outcome of a nail-biting election, while the monthly payrolls
report underlined the economic challenge facing America's next
president.
Democrat Joe Biden took the lead over President Donald Trump
in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Georgia, putting
him on the verge of winning the White House hours after Trump
falsely claimed the election was being "stolen" from him.
"Markets have been pretty comfortable with that idea (of a
Biden win), but if it's contested, it adds a little bit of
uncertainty," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James
in St. Petersburg, Florida.
"Even with these states being really close, we might have to
go back and recount so we're in for a long period of
uncertainty."
Despite Friday's losses, the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX and
tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC were on track for their best week
since April as the prospect of a policy gridlock in Washington
eased worries about tighter regulations on U.S. companies.
Republicans could keep control of the U.S. Senate pending
the outcome of four undecided Senate races and they would likely
block large parts of Biden's legislative agenda, including
expanding healthcare and fighting climate change. Meanwhile, the Labor Department's closely-watched report
showed U.S. employers hired the fewest workers in five months in
October in the absence of new fiscal stimulus and as daily
COVID-19 infections set new records in the United States.
At 10:11 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 0.28%, the S&P 500 .SPX was down 0.24%, and the
Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was down 0.74%.
Technology mega-caps including Apple Inc AAPL.O ,
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , Facebook Inc FB.O and Alphabet Inc
GOOGL.O fell after logging strong gains this week and were
among the biggest drags on the benchmark S&P 500.
The Russell 1000 value index .RLV outperformed Wall Street
with slight gains in early trading, while the Russell 1000
growth index .RLG dropped 1%.
Coty Inc COTY.N jumped 14.4% as the cosmetics maker beat
analysts' estimates for quarterly revenue, while T-Mobile US Inc
TMUS.O gained 5.7% after adding more phone subscribers than
analysts had expected in the third quarter. Electronic Arts Inc EA.O slumped 10.6% after the video
game maker fell short of quarterly sales estimates. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 1.05-to-1 on the
NYSE, while declining issues outnumbered advancers 1.59-to-1 on
the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 31 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 79 new highs and 15 new lows.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
S&P 500 five day periods after presidential elections https://tmsnrt.rs/3k3IwQr
USA-JOBS-UNEMPLOYMENT-PARTICIPATION interactive https://reut.rs/39ER8aX
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>