US STOCKS-Wall St set to jump on Biden victory bets, stimulus hopes

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* Banks, construction companies rise before the bell
* Arista climbs as profit tops estimates
* PayPal down as earnings target falls short of expectations
* Futures up: Dow 1.50%, S&P 1.19%, Nasdaq 0.69%

(Adds comment, details; updates prices)
By Medha Singh
Nov 3 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to
jump at the open on Tuesday as investors bet on a Joe Biden
victory followed by a swift deal on more fiscal stimulus after
one of the most divisive presidential races in U.S. history.
After slumping to five-week lows last week, the S&P 500 and
the Nasdaq began November on a strong footing as the consistent
lead for Democratic presidential nominee Biden in national
opinion polls raised hopes of a bigger stimulus package as well
as more infrastructure spending post-election.
Democrats are also favored to emerge from 14 hotly contested
U.S. Senate races with full control of Congress in Tuesday's
election, although final results from at least five of those
contests may not be available for days, and in some cases,
months. "Currently, the market is betting on a Biden win," said
Christian Stocker, UniCredit's lead equity sector strategist.
"Under a Biden presidency, the U.S. economy should be more
supportive for equity markets - an economy with more stimulus
programs will be perfect for the outperformance of cyclical
sectors."
Shares of big U.S. banks including Bank of America Corp
BAC.N , Citigroup Inc C.N , JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N and
Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS.N , which are sensitive to the
economic outlook, gained more than 1%, while industrials
Caterpillar Inc CAT.N and Honeywell International Inc HON.N
rose about 2% in premarket trading.
The CBOE volatility index .VIX , investors' fear gauge,
retreated for a second day after touching a 20-week high last
week on surging coronavirus cases globally.
Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital
Partners in Pittsburgh, said a Biden victory could lead to some
inflation, which would be beneficial to banks.
"A Federal Reserve committed to keeping rates lower and yet
allowing not a flat curve but one with some steepening to it,
and then some inflation and you get yourself a hip hip hooray
for banks."
Still, the competition in swing states is seen as close
enough that Republican President Donald Trump could still piece
together the 270 Electoral College votes he needs to stay in the
White House for another four years. Investors are also bracing for wild market swings in case
there is no immediate outcome on Tuesday night due to a
protracted ballot count or a disputed result. The benchmark S&P 500 has surged about 55% since Trump
clinched an upset victory in 2016 as lower tax rates under his
administration boosted corporate profits.
At 8:23 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 403 points, or
1.5%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 39.25 points, or 1.19%,
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 76.25 points, or 0.69%.
Among other movers, Arista Networks Inc ANET.N jumped 13%
after the network-gear maker reported a better-than-expected
quarterly profit.
PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL.O dropped 5.5% after it forecast
current-quarter profit below expectations. Later this week, investors will also look to the Federal
Reserve's two-day policy meeting and October jobs report.

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"Biden" shares vs "Trump" shares https://tmsnrt.rs/3881PWc
Markets under different presidents during history https://tmsnrt.rs/3p35jj4
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