Stock Market Today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq Set for Record After ...

The Dow Jones Industrial Average marked a historic post-election move after Donald J. Trump locked in enough electoral votes to win the presidency over Kamala Harris.

The Dow surged 1,508 points, or 3.6%, on Wednesday. That’s the Dow’s largest post-election gain since it rose 4.5% in November 1896, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The S&P 500 also rallied 2.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite stormed 3% higher. All three indexes finished the day with record closing highs.

Small-cap stocks were the real stars of the day, with the Russell 2000 recently up 5.8%. The CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, sank below 20 to roughly 16.51 in recent trading. Wall Street was bracing for a contentious election that may not have yielded a final result for days, or even weeks. Instead, Trump rode a red wave to a decisive victory.

Though most of the market was rallying, the top sectors were financials, energy, and industrials. Wall Street is betting that Trump stances on tax cuts, drilling, and an easing of regulatory scrutiny will be a boon for such stocks; Discover Financial Services, which has a $35 billion deal to be acquired by Capital One, was among the top stocks of the day, for example.

Capital One was among 135 S&P 500 stocks that set 52-week highs during the session. That's the most in one day since May 7, 2021, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

“During the 2016 election, the S&P 500 Index gained nearly 5% from the day before the presidential election through the end of the year in what became known as the Trump rally. We expect a similar trend could play out this time around, too,” writes Marc Pinto, head of Americas Equities at Janus Henderson Investors. “Longer term, though, history shows equity markets are more likely to be indifferent to whichever party is in power.”

Rate-sensitive sectors like real estate, consumer staples, and utilities stocks lagged behind. Bond prices slipped, as traders considered the impacts of Trump policies on inflation, the national debt, and the path forward for interest rates. The yield on the 2-year Treasury note was up to 4.266%, while the 10-year yield was up to 4.425%. The 30-year yield posted its largest one-day gain since June 13, 2022 to 4.602%.

While control of the House of Representatives is still too close to call, according to the Associated Press, Wall Street is clearly thrilled about what a Trump presidency may mean for corporations.