Stocks extended this week's rally on Thursday as traders bet on the outcome of the U.S. presidential election with several key states' results remaining undecided as ballot counts continue.
Investors are at least ignoring signs of contested election results for now. President Donald Trump's campaign on Wednesday announced that it was preparing to file lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia to challenge vote counts. Earlier on Thursday, Trump's campaign announced that it will seek a recount in Wisconsin, which was called for a Joe Biden victory. Biden's campaign as also signaled that it is ready for election related lawsuits.
Meanwhile, the Federal Open Market Committee (F.O.M.C.) said in its November monetary policy statement released on Thursday that it will be maintaining its current loose monetary policy, with interest rates near zero and bond-buying program left unchanged.
The Labor Department weekly jobless claims added another 751,000, showing slow recovery but still exceeding consensus economists expectations. The job market remains pressured by the coronavirus pandemic, as daily new cases in the U.S. continue to reach their highest levels since the nation's outbreak began.
Here's how the market settled on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +1.95% or +67.01 points to 3,510.45
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +1.95% or +542.52 points to 28,390.18
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +2.59% or +300.15 points to 11,890.93
For Major Stock News, megacap tech stocks continued to rise as the market anticipated the end of election ballot counting on Friday: Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MFST) and Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX).
For Sector Performance, a combination of cyclicals and megacap sectors soared higher during Thursday's rally, with only Energy (NYSE: XLE) slipping into the red as coronavirus infections threaten demand. Materials (NYSE: XLB) was the big winner, rising over 4%. Information Technology (NYSE: XLK) also gained over 3%, while Financials (NYSE: XLF), Industrials (NYSE: XLI) and Consumer Discretionary (NYSE: XLY) rose over 2%.
For Commodities and Currency, the U.S. Dollar (NYSE: UUP) fell to a two-week low against other global currencies as surging stock markets reduced demand for the greenback. The Fed's continued loose monetary policy also pressured the dollar. The dollar index fell 0.95% to 92.51. Gold (NYSE: GLD) prices rose on Thursday as growing prospects for a Joe Biden presidential victory boosted hopes for larger coronavirus stimulus. Spot gold increase 2.3% to $1,947.16 per ounce, while gold futures settled 2.9% higher at $1,951.80 per ounce. Crude oil futures also dropped after jumping about 4% on Wednesday as global coronavirus infections continued to rise and the outcome of the U.S. presidential election still remains undecided. International benchmark Brent Crude (NYSE: BNO) fell 0.9% to $40.85 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (NYSE: USO) dropped 0.9% lower to $39.79 per barrel.
For Friday, market participants will turn their attention to the Labor Department's October nonfarm payrolls report, with jobs adds expected to be 530,000. The unemployment rate is also forecasted to lower to 7.6%. There is also a chance that the projected winner of the election will be announced sometime Friday.