Wall Street Close: Biden transition propels Dow Jones to record high, S&P 500 closes at all-time top


  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied over 400 points, or 1.54%.
  • The S&P500 added 57.61 points, or 1.61%.
  • The Nasdaq Composite put on 156.15 points, or 1.31%.

Wall Street bulls welcomed the start of US President-elect Joe Biden’s formal power shift announcement on Tuesday. Also favoring the optimists were clues that ex-Fed Chair Janet Yellen will be upcoming US Treasury Secretary as well as upbeat signals from the vaccine race and the US economics.

Read: Forex Today: Risk appetite hits the dollar and gold

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI30) refreshed record high while crossing the 30,000 threshold, with the top being 30,116.51, whereas S&P 500 closed only a few points from the all-time top, closing at the highest ever levels. Further, Nasdaq 100 also benefited from the rally despite marking the lesser gains among the top three benchmarks.

Dollar Tree helped the S&P 500 whereas notable gains of Chevron could be cited behind the DJI30 rally. It’s worth mentioning that energy stocks also gained amid fresh optimism in oil markets backed by WTI’s rush to $45.00.

The White House Administration recently approved Biden to receive the President's daily brief, the collection of intelligence reports, etc. The same will help the Democratic Party member to better firm-up preparations for their long-due stimulus battle with the Republicans. With the signals favoring Yellen’s return to the policy board, now as the first woman Treasury Secretary of America, the US markets anticipate victory over the coronavirus (COVID-19) woes and further monetary easing.

Fed speakers tried to restrict the bears’ entries whereas the US data came in mixed, with housing figures combating consumer confidence and Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index.

On the negative side, the covid conditions fail to abate whereas chatters that the US is joining friends to counter China-backed trade group also tried to tame the bulls, but couldn’t.

Moving on, news from the White House and concerning the virus, as well as vaccine, can entertain market players ahead of the preliminary reading of the US GDP.

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