(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window)
* Indexes jump: Dow 1.7%, S&P 1.9%, Nasdaq 2.2%
* Tech rally resumes as investors bet on policy gridlock
* Qualcomm surges after results
* Fed expected to reiterate "whatever it takes" policy
(Updates to early afternoon)
By Medha Singh and Shivani Kumaresan
Nov 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks jumped on Thursday as bets on
Republicans retaining control of the Senate eased worries of
major policy changes that could hurt corporate America under a
Joe Biden White House, even as the presidential election hung in
the balance.
With counting continuing in the battleground states,
investors were abandoning cautious positioning that many took
ahead of the election, driving all of Wall Street's main indexes
up by around 2%.
Analysts predicted the fraught nature of the vote would
hamper any moves by Congress to deliver more fiscal stimulus and
put pressure on the U.S. Federal Reserve to pump more funds into
the financial system, supporting more buying of stocks.
"Whoever emerges as President is unlikely to have a
supportive Congress willing to write the President blank fiscal
cheques," said Albert Edwards, global strategist at Societe
Generale.
"That means only one thing: more Fed intervention to sustain
markets."
The Fed is set to issue a statement later, after a two-day
meeting delayed for the election, and is widely expected to
repeat its pledge to do whatever it can to help an economy
ravaged by the coronavirus crisis. Biden was edging closer to victory on Thursday after winning
Michigan and Wisconsin, but his Democratic party appeared
unlikely to win the Senate, potentially making it difficult to
tighten regulation on Big Tech and raise corporate taxes.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq, packed with "stay-at-home" corporate
winners under this year's lockdowns, gained 2.2% and was within
striking distance of its Sept. 2 record closing high.
The Philadelphia SE semiconductor index .SOX surged 3.6%
to hit an all-time high, while technology .SPLRCT and
communication services .SPLRCL led gainers among S&P indexes.
Buying was spread across sectors, however, and the VIX
volatility index .VIX , which has risen in recent months as
investors feared the vote might spark falls in shares, retreated
to its lowest in three weeks.
At 12:50 p.m. EST the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
rose 1.75% to 28,334.47, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 1.91% to
3,509.14 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC climbed 2.22% to
11,848.51.
The materials index .SPLRCM also hit a record high,
boosted by a 6% rise in shares of U.S.-German industrial gas
producer Linde LIN.N .
Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O surged 13% after the chipmaker
forecast fiscal first-quarter revenue above estimates as it
predicted solid growth in 5G smart phones sales next year.
"Out of all the choices that could have happened this
election season, this seems to be the one that the market is
most okay with," said Kenny Polcari, managing partner at Kace
Capital Advisors in Florida, while playing down concerns over
the growing list of legal challenges to the presidential vote.
"The Trump camp is going to come out and say that they are
not at the moment accepting the result and that they are going
to challenge it. But the market is not really concerned ... it
is up by another 500 points."
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 4.6-to-1 on the NYSE
and 3.2-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 67 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 213 new highs and 25 new lows.
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S&P 500 in first terms: Trump vs Obama https://tmsnrt.rs/34Vuvjy
Markets under different presidents during history https://tmsnrt.rs/3p35jj4
Trump timeline https://tmsnrt.rs/31QeDN8
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