Stocks set records after Biden is certified

Stocks leaped to new highs Thursday as investors seemed to shrug off the assault at the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, instead looking toward the agenda of President-elect Joe Biden and a Democratic-controlled Congress.

All three major U.S. indexes set closing records Thursday after members of Congress put the final stamp on Biden’s victory. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed above 13,000 for the first time, gaining nearly 327 points, about 2.6 percent, to settle at 13,067.48. The S&P 500 advanced nearly 1.5 percent, to 3,803.79, for its first record close of 2021. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added nearly 212 points, about 0.7 percent, to end at 31,041.13.

After amajor hit during the pandemic’s first wave, Wall Street has been on a record-shattering rebound. It is one of the pillars of what economists are calling a “Kshaped” recovery: As investors bagged monster profits from soaring stock prices, layoffs skyrocketed, scores of small businesses closed and millions of Americans slipped into poverty. On the eve of the new year, nearly 20 million Americans remained on unemployment, a jobs crisis worse than during the Great Recession.

OnWednesday, the Dow closed at a record high, even with a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters storming the Capitol as Congresswas set to certify Biden’s election win. Trump has disputed the results of the election, citing meritless claims of voter fraud, and had encouraged his supporters to march to the Capitol. One person was fatally shot during the melee, and the D.C. National Guard was activated.

Overseas investors also seemed relatively unconcerned about the turmoil: Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.6 percent, and the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.7 percent. European markets closed in positive territory across the board, led by France’s CAC 40, which gained 0.7 percent.

“With the Democrats nowset to control Congress when Joe Biden officially becomes president in a few weeks’ time, the market is now recalibrating the scenario where the future leader has a greater chance of pushing through his policies and thuswhat the consequences would be on asset classes, economic growth, monetary policy and so on,” Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said

Thursday in an email to theWashington Post. “Previously, the market seemed to be content with a situation of government gridlock.”

The mob scenes at the Capitol prompted unusual criticism from business groups, many of which had applauded Trump’s efforts to cut government regulation and corporate taxes during his time in office. Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat said he was “disgusted” with the rioting, while Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of the Blackstone Group, saidhewas “shocked and horrified by this mob’s attempt to undermine our Constitution.”