NEW YORK: Global stocksralliedonWednesday after Democrats seized control of both chambers of Congress in the US midterm elections, providing greater political clarity and reducing the uncertainty that has weighed on markets.
Brent crude oil futures were down 9 per cent at $94.50 a barrel as investors weighed Washington’s next move in talks to end the wars in Ukraine and Iran against worries that recentattacksinbothconflicts could further disrupt supplies.
In a major setback to President Donald Trump, Democrats scored sweeping victories in Republican strongholds for the first time in generations. The breadth of the party’s success was underscored by gains in districts long considered safely conservative, highlighting a political shift that may have caught some investors off guard.
On Wall Street, all three main indexes were trading higher, with communication services, consumer discretionary, and consumer staples stocks driving gains. Energy shares were the biggest losers on the day with crude prices down as Trump acknowledged that the Iran war had played a role in his party’s sweeping defeat.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.89pc, the S&P 500 was up 1.85pc, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 2.13pc.
‘Markets hate uncertainty, and even though a lot of what the result was had been priced in ahead of time, getting confirmation of that last night brings certainty to markets,’ said Clayton Allison, portfoliomanager at Prime Capital Financial.
‘Now this brings questions as to what actually gets done in Washington over the next two years. But the markets love to see that thereis a resolution to a catalyst event.
Opinion polls have shown Democratic voters favouring more control over AI, and investors expect the Democratic-controlled Congress to apply more scrutiny to the sector.
The MSCI All-World index was up 1.56pc, while Europe’s STOXX 600, which has acted as a hedge against AI-related risks, jumped 1.87pc to twomonth highs.
AI stocks in Asia initially led a decline in equity markets before finishing higher overnight.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.41pc.
Safe haven bid Treasuries rallied as investors expect gridlock in Washington to cut government spending, with AI regulation also possibly slowing growth and reducing the need for rate hikes.
The yield on the benchmark US 10-year Treasury note fell 5.18 basis points on the day to 4.90pc, down as much as 6bps to 4.89pc overnight, which, in turn, weighed on the dollar.
The broadly weaker dollar left the euro up 0.38pc at $1.1235 and the pound up 0.45pc at $1.3472.
The yen and the Swiss franc both safe-haven currencies also notched gains. The Swiss franc was up 0.50pc against the dollar at 0.817 francs. The Japanese yen rose 0.27pc to 158.24.
In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin gained 3.22pc to $80,316.07. Ethereum rose 5.8pc to $2,425.26.
Spot gold rose 3.57pc to $4,068.62 an ounce.
-Reuters