Stocks - Dow Rallies 545 Points as Tech, Health Care Bask in Post-Midterm Glow
Investing.com – The Dow surged on Wednesday on the back of tech stocks after President Donald Trump vowed to work with Democrats after Republicans ceded control of the House in the wake of the midterm elections.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 545 points, or 2.13%. The S&P 500 rose 2.11%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.64%.
In a widely expected result, Democrats grabbed the extra seats needed to regain control of the House, raising the prospect of political gridlock, though Trump's somewhat conciliatory tone provided a modicum of hope that some key legislative measures could be pushed through Congress with bipartisan support.
"The Democrats will come to us with a plan for infrastructure, a plan for health care, a plan for whatever they're looking at and we'll negotiate," Trump said.
The rally on Wall Street post-midterm kept intact a trend stretching back decades, helped by a surge in tech and healthcare, with many saying that a split Congress was the best outcome for markets.
"We still think that the market will move higher into the year-end, and investors may have to participate on the upside," J.P. Morgan said.
Tech rose 3% as FANG stocks caught a bid, led by a surge in Netflix.
Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) rose 5% after revealing plans to increase the number of shows it produces in Europe in languages other than English in a bid to add further steel to its international subscriber base.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) also traded higher.
Health care stocks also supported the broader market as traders bet that a divided Congress would struggle to push through major regulatory changes.
Energy, meanwhile, was also stronger, despite a fall in U.S. oil prices on the back of bearish inventory data showing crude supplies rose more than expected.
Investor attention was also swayed by upcoming monetary policy action as the Federal Reserve got its two-day meeting underway Wednesday, expected to result in an unchanged decision on interest rates Thursday.
In political news, Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned at the request of Trump on Wednesday.
Sessions' chief of staff Matthew Whitaker will serve as acting attorney general, Trump said.
Top S&P 500 Gainers and Losers Today:
Cimarex Energy (NYSE:XEC), DaVita HealthCare Partners (NYSE:DVA) and Centene (NYSE:CNC) were among the top S&P 500 gainers for the session.
Coty (NYSE:COTY), Michael Kors (NYSE:KORS) and DXC Technology (NYSE:DXC) were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.
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