Wall Street rising on Dem victories, stimulus hopes

Major U.S. stock indexes surged to all-time highs Thursday aswall Street bet that the Democratic sweep ofwashington means more stimulus is on the way for the economy.

The S&P 500 rose 1.5% to a record high in the first day of trading after Congress confirmed Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election and Jon ossoff was declared the winner of a georgia runoff election, tipping control of the Senate to Democrats. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq composite and Russell 2000 index of smaller companies also notched new highs.

The rally was broadbased, though the S& P 500’s technology sector notched the biggest gain, recouping losses after a pullback a day earlier. Treasury yields continued to rise, reflecting expectations that higher government spending will drive up inflation.

Investors and analysts are anticipating the Biden administration and ademocrat- controlled Congress will try to deliver $2,000 checks tomost Americans, increase spending on infrastructure and take other measures to nurse the economy amid the worsening pandemic.

“The expectations are shifting to more stimulus, sooner, which is generally better for the economy and better for the market as well,” said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategy director at U. S. Bank Wealth Management.

The S&P 500 rose 55.65 points to 3,803.79. Thedow gained 211.73 points, or 0.7%, to 31,041.13. The techheavy Nasdaq climbed 326.69 points, or 2.6%, to 13,067.48. The Russell 2000 picked up 38.96 points, or 1.9%, to 2,096.89.

Wall Street’s latest rally adds togains fromadaybefore, when stocks climbed after Raphael Warnock was declared the winner of the first of two Georgia runoffs and expectations built for a Democratically controlled D.C. Markets gave up much of their early gains on Wednesday, though, after loyalists to President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol as lawmakers were confirming his loss.