Investing.com — U.S. stock index futures soared Wednesday as Donald Trump was elected the 47th President of the United States, while the Republicans were on course to sweep the Senate and the House.
At 05:10 ET (10:10 GMT), rose 1,255 points, or 3%, rose 133 points, or 2.3%, and rose 345 points, or 1.7%.
Trump wins White House; Red sweep likely
The Associated Press and other major news networks have declared Trump the winner of the 2024 presidential election, confirming his return to the White House, as he had declared earlier Wednesday.
Meanwhile, previous coverage by the Associated Press and other regional networks showed Republicans had taken a majority in the Senate, the upper chamber of the US Congress, and were also on track to win the House of Representatives, raising the possibility of a Republican sweep in the 2024 elections.
“The big question for markets now is whether Trump’s win will bring full Republican control or a split government. If Republicans take both chambers, Trump could have more room to cut corporate taxes—a potential boost for investor confidence, ” said Russell Shor, Senior Market Specialist at Tradu.
Republican control of Congress–the so-called “red sweep”–presents a much easier path for Trump to enact major policy changes. Trump is widely expected to enact more inflationary policies, given his largely protectionist stances on immigration and trade.
The and Treasury yields shot up on this notion, with the greenback hitting a near four-month high.
A swift conclusion to the 2024 elections also presents the clearing of a major point of uncertainty for stock markets, given the turmoil that surrounded the conclusion of the 2020 presidential election.
Fed meeting in spotlight
Wall Street indexes rose sharply on Tuesday, recovering from recent losses on gains in technology stocks, with risk appetite boosted by the expectation of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve later this week.
The rose 1.2%, the climbed 1.4% and the gained 1%.
All three indexes were nursing a tumble from record highs in late October following a mixed batch of mega-cap tech earnings, while uncertainty over future interest rate cuts by the Fed also weighed.
The central bank is widely expected to at the conclusion of a two-day meeting on Thursday.
Any signaling on the Fed’s plan for future rate cuts will be closely watched, given recent signs of stickiness in U.S. inflation. The central bank has signaled a largely data-driven approach to future easing.
Crude prices slip lower after API release
Oil prices fell Wednesday after industry data pointed to a rise in US crude stockpiles, while the dollar surged on Trump’s election progress.
By 05:50 ET, the Brent contract slipped 1.2% to $74.66 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures (WTI) traded 1.2% lower at $71.15 per barrel.
Data from the data, released on Tuesday, showed that inventories rose by 3.13 million barrels last week, higher than the expected 1.1 million barrels.
The inventory numbers are due later on Wednesday, but if the API release is confirmed it would spur some concerns that U.S. fuel demand was cooling, especially as the winter season approaches.
(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)
