US STOCKS-Wall St set to jump after Biden election win

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* Biden declared winner, Trump to challenge results
* S&P 500 closed 2% from Sept high on Friday
* Major averages coming off best week in 7 months
* Futures up: Dow 1.26%, S&P 1.41%, Nasdaq 2.06%

Nov 9 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a
sharply higher open on Monday after President-elect Joe Biden
was declared the winner in a highly contentious election.
Biden's victory in Pennsylvania on Saturday put him above
the 270 Electoral College votes needed to secure the presidency,
four days after Election Day, although President Donald Trump
does not plan to concede anytime soon. By 3:40 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 356 points, or
1.26%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 49.5 points, or 1.41%,
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 249 points, or 2.06%.
Shares in both Europe and Asia surged on Monday, with MSCI's
broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside of Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS up 1.4% after a 6.2% gain in the prior week, its
best weekly performance in five months. Japan's Nikkei hit a
29-year high while European indexes rose by up to 1.5%.
MKTS/GLOB
U.S. stocks had closed Friday's session little changed on
the day, but each of the three major indexes still managed to
notch their biggest weekly percentage gains since April, in part
due to the belief that Congress will remain divided.
"Although the President has not conceded and there was
concern regarding legal challenges, prominent Republicans,
including former President (George W.) Bush in essence publicly
called the election and the market has embraced the election
results too," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at
Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey.
"The market is up and it looks as if we're going go
continue."
With the S&P 500 .SPX sitting just 2% from its Sept. 2
closing record, headwinds remain for equities, including a surge
in coronavirus cases that could lead to fresh government
lockdowns, with total U.S. cases approaching 10 million.
A fiscal stimulus package to combat the economic damage done
by the coronavirus is also less likely to be broad. While U.S.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last week indicated he
desired a bill by the end of the year, he said on Friday that
economic statistics show Congress should enact a smaller plan.