US STOCKS-Wall St rises, Nasdaq hits record high on recovery hopes
*U.S. stock market to close early; trading to remain thin. Sentiment was also lifted by President Donald Trump saying he will leave the White House if the Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden, the closest he has come to conceding the Nov. 3 election, market participants said. Although European bourses were subdued by doubts around the…
(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* Trump says will leave if Biden wins Electoral College vote
* Volatility dips to levels last seen in February
* U.S. stock market to close early; trading to remain thin
* Indexes up: Dow 0.44%, S&P 0.35%, Nasdaq 0.66%(Updates to open)
By Shivani Kumaresan
Nov 27 (Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes rose and theNasdaq hit a record high on Friday as optimism around aneconomic rebound next year outweighed concerns around anexpected surge in coronavirus infections following theThanksgiving holiday.
Sentiment was also lifted by President Donald Trump sayinghe will leave the White House if the Electoral College votes forPresident-elect Joe Biden, the closest he has come to concedingthe Nov. 3 election, market participants said.
“While it was certainly the expectation of the vast majorityof traders that there would be an easy transfer of power, at theend of the day it gives a little bit of confidence,” said RickMeckler, a partner at Cherry Lane Investments in New Jersey.
The three main U.S. stock indexes have gained more than 10%this month as investors were encouraged by signs that COVID-19vaccines were on track to be rolled out in the weeks ahead,setting the S&P 500 for its best November ever.
Although European bourses were subdued by doubts around theeffectiveness of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, Meckler said itwould not affect the U.S. stock market with traders betting oncandidates being developed by Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc.
By 9:40 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average wasup 131.92 points, or 0.44%, at 30,004.39, the S&P 500 wasup 12.86 points, or 0.35%, at 3,642.51, and the Nasdaq Compositewas up 79.33 points, or 0.66%, at 12,173.74.
Nine of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, with only thereal estate and the utilities sectors,commonly considered defensive, trading lower.
A rotation into sectors deemed to benefit from an economicrecovery, such as industrials and financials,has also powered the Dow to record highs and put it ontrack for its biggest monthly gain since 1987.
Market volatility, as measured by the CBOE volatility index, slipped to pre-pandemic levels. Trading volumes areexpected to be light as the U.S. stock market closes early onFriday.
U.S.-listed shares of iQIYI Inc fell 2.8% afterReuters reported Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and TencentHoldings Ltd had put on hold talks to buy a controlling stake inthe video streaming service.
Next week, investors will get the latest economic snapshot,including the monthly employment report. Economists polled byReuters expect the Dec. 4 jobs report to show unemploymentdipped to 6.8% from 6.9%, but still well above the 4.5% rate inMarch, before much of the U.S. economy went into lockdown.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 1.58-to-1 on the NYSEand 2.06-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 17 new 52-week highs and no new low,while the Nasdaq recorded 75 new highs and four new lows.(Reporting by Shivani Kumaresan and Shriya Ramakrishnan inBengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Arun Koyyur)