Markets Rise For a Second Straight Day and Await Election Results…..
U.S. stocks closed the day higher, adding to yesterday’s rally that helped cut into some of last week’s losses. The U.S. presidential election was the focal point on the day as the markets hoped some of the recent political uncertainty, that has heightened volatility, would dissipate. Investors look set to remain focused on the election as results begin to trickle in, after today’s market hours. Factory orders continued a strong rebound, adding another dose of upbeat data, while earnings continued to mostly top analyst forecasts. PayPal saw pressure as its guidance countered its strong Q3 results, while Mondelez and Wayfair rose after besting Q3 expectations. Treasury yields moved higher as bond prices saw pressure, and the U.S. dollar was noticeably lower after a recent rise. Gold and crude oil prices were higher. Asia finished broadly higher after Australia eased monetary policy further, though Japanese markets were closed for a holiday. Europe saw widespread gains as Financials led the way.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 555 points (2.1%) to 27,480, the S&P 500 Index was up 59 points (1.8%) at 3,369, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 203 points (1.9%) to 11,161. In moderately-heavy volume, 862 million shares were traded on the NYSE and 3.2 billion shares changed hands on the Nasdaq. WTI crude oil was $0.85 higher at $37.66 per barrel and wholesale gasoline added $0.03 to $1.08 per gallon. Elsewhere, the Bloomberg gold spot price rose $11.20 to $1,906.68 per ounce, and the Dollar Index—a comparison of the U.S. dollar to six major world currencies—fell 0.6% to 93.55.
Factory orders continue to rebound, Treasury yields gaining ground amid election focus…..
Factory orders rose 1.1% month-over-month (m/m) in September, versus the Bloomberg estimate of a 1.0% gain, and compared to August’s downwardly-revised 0.6% gain. This was the fifth-straight monthly rebound from the historic 13.5% tumble in April which followed the 11.0% fall in March.
Stripping out the volatile transportation component, orders gained 0.5%, below estimates of a 0.6% increase, and compared to August’s upwardly-adjusted 0.9% rise. Final durable goods orders,. preliminarily reported last week, were unrevised at a 1.9% m/m gain for September, and orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, considered a proxy for business spending, were unadjusted at a 1.0% increase.
Treasuries were lower as the markets grappled with what the key presidential election outcome could be, as the yield on the 2-year note ticked 1 basis point (bp) higher to 0.17%, while the yields on the 10-year note and 30-year bond gained 4 bps to 0.89%, and 1.66%, respectively.
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