Dow Jones Industrial Average futures alternated between gains and losses on Wednesday as the results of the presidential contest so far failed to yield a clear winner on election night, CNBC reported.
Dow futures traded 114 points lower, or 0.4%. Earlier in the session, those contracts were up sharply. S&P 500 futures gained 0.1% and Nasdaq 100 futures popped 1.8% as investors crowded back into the trade that’s been working for most of this tumultuous year.
“I think the big news for the markets right now at least as it looks preliminary is that there’s not going to be a blue wave, which is generally supportive for markets,” said Mike Lewis, managing director of U.S. equity cash trading at Barclays, on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “I think that the outlook going forward for markets is this is going to be more about policy and the Fed than it’s going to be about politics, which is a good thing for markets.”
Earlier in the overnight session, futures contracts for the Dow and S&P 500 came under some pressure after President Donald Trump tried to claim victory even though millions of legitimate votes were not yet counted.
“We were getting ready for a big celebration. We were winning everything, and all of a sudden it was just called off,” Trump said. “We’ll be going to the U.S. Supreme Court, we want all voting to stop.”
“We don’t want them to find any ballots at 4 o’clock in the morning and add them to the list,” he added.
Democratic nominee Joe Biden appeared to be unable to take North Carolina, with Trump holding a lead in that state, according to NBC News. However, Biden was leading in Arizona, although NBC News said it was too early to call the state. Key swing states Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania could take days to determine.
“We believe we’re on track to win this election,” Biden said to supporters in Delaware overnight. The candidate said the winner could be known Wednesday morning but it could take a little longer.
Trump is projected to win the presidential vote in Florida, Indiana and Kentucky along with South Dakota, Arkansas and Ohio, NBC News said. Trump is also projected to win Alabama and North Dakota. Biden is projected to win Vermont, Delaware, Maryland and Massachusetts as well as Colorado, New York and Virginia, according to NBC News.
“We’re seeing in one night what we’ve seen over the past two weeks, which is a tug of war within the polling itself causing wide swings in the market as uncertainty persists,” said Keith Lerner, chief market strategist at Truist/SunTrust Advisory.
Shares of major tech-related companies jumped in early premarket trading. Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Alphabet and Microsoft were all up at least 2.9%.
Wall Street traders and investors attributed the move in tech and the Nasdaq 100 futures to a number of factors, including the group’s consistently solid returns and safety appeal in times of uncertainty. Additionally, some viewed the potential for Republicans to hold onto the Senate as a positive for the group since a higher capital gains taxes from a Democrat congress could have weighed on the high growth sector.
Be the first to comment