A contested presidential election has been considered a nightmare scenario by some members of the media, but investors seemed pleased with the partial results Wednesday as the broad stock indexes shot up.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.33% added 368 points (or 1.3%). The S&P 500 Index SPX, +2.20% rose 2.2%. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +3.85% was strongest of all, jumping 3.9%, led by Biogen Inc. BIIB, +43.97%, which popped 44% after the Food and Drug Administration said there was “substantial evidence” that the company’s experimental treatment for Alzheimer’s disease was effective.
The presidential contest remained in doubt at the stock market close, with Joe Biden appearing to be in the lead, but both he and President Donald Trump still had several paths to victory in the Electoral College as several states continued counting votes. It also appeared that the Republican Party was likely to retain its majority in the U.S. Senate and gain some seats in the Democratic Party-controlled House of Representatives.
Read:What a lack of Democratic ‘blue wave’ means for the stock market
In an email, Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance, wrote that a Biden victory combined with continued Republican control in the Senate and the Democrats keeping a majority in the House of Representatives “may be the best for the markets over the next two to three years.” That’s because of legislative gridlock and resistance in the Senate to tax increases, “even if it causes the most discomfort for markets over the next two to three months … because of a lack of significant stimulus,” he said.
The hope that a GOP-controlled Senate would be less likely to agree to new regulation of big tech companies, helped send shares of Facebook Inc. FB, +8.32% up 8.3%, while Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, +6.32% rose 6.3%. Health insurers were also strong, with Cigna Corp. CI, +14.54% up 14.5%, Anthem Inc. ANTM, +11.72% rising 11.7% and UnitedHealth Group Inc. right behind with a 10.3% gain.
Important election battles weren’t only about who won which seats. Shares of Uber Technologies Inc. UBER, +14.59% and Lyft Inc. LYFT, +11.28% were up by double digits after California voters approved Proposition 22, which allows ride-sharing companies to treat drivers as contractors rather than employees.
Here’s how the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 performed Wednesday:
| S&P 500 sector | Price change – Nov. 4 | Price change – 2020 |
| Health Care | 4.4% | 7.5% |
| Communication Services | 4.3% | 14.5% |
| Information Technology | 3.8% | 28.3% |
| Consumer Discretionary | 3.1% | 25.4% |
| Energy | 0.2% | -51.0% |
| Real Estate | 0.1% | -8.2% |
| Consumer Staples | 0.1% | 2.1% |
| Industrials | -1.0% | -2.4% |
| Financials | -1.3% | -20.3% |
| Utilities | -1.6% | -1.5% |
| Materials | -1.7% | 6.2% |
| Source: FactSet | ||
Dow
Here’s how the components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average performed Wednesday:
| Company | Ticker | Price change – Nov. 4 | Price change – 2020 |
| UnitedHealth Group Inc. | UNH, +10.33% | 10.3% | 20.6% |
| Salesforce.com Inc. | CRM, +5.73% | 5.7% | 54.2% |
| Microsoft Corp. | MSFT, +4.82% | 4.8% | 37.2% |
| Merck & Co. Inc. | MRK, +4.81% | 4.8% | -11.4% |
| Amgen Inc. | AMGN, +4.66% | 4.7% | -4.5% |
| Apple Inc. | AAPL, +4.08% | 4.1% | 56.6% |
| Visa Inc. Class A | V, +2.98% | 3.0% | 3.2% |
| Nike Inc. Class B | NKE, +2.20% | 2.2% | 25.7% |
| Home Depot Inc. | HD, +1.92% | 1.9% | 29.5% |
| Intel Corp. | INTC, +1.89% | 1.9% | -23.6% |
| Walt Disney Co. | DIS, +0.84% | 0.8% | -13.5% |
| Johnson & Johnson | JNJ, +0.65% | 0.6% | -4.4% |
| American Express Co. | AXP, +0.11% | 0.1% | -22.6% |
| Chevron Corp. | CVX, +0.04% | 0.0% | -40.4% |
| Goldman Sachs Group Inc. | GS, -0.03% | 0.0% | -13.9% |
| Honeywell International Inc. | HON, -0.16% | -0.2% | 1.1% |
| Cisco Systems Inc. | CSCO, -0.30% | -0.3% | -23.7% |
| Coca-Cola Co. | KO, -0.36% | -0.4% | -11.2% |
| Procter & Gamble Co. | PG, -0.41% | -0.4% | 12.6% |
| Walmart Inc. | WMT, -0.57% | -0.6% | 19.5% |
| McDonald’s Corp. | MCD, -0.89% | -0.9% | 8.7% |
| Verizon Communications Inc. | VZ, -0.91% | -0.9% | -6.8% |
| Boeing Co. | BA, -1.31% | -1.3% | -53.5% |
| International Business Machines Corp. | IBM, -1.98% | -2.0% | -16.5% |
| Travelers Cos. Inc. | TRV, -2.32% | -2.3% | -9.9% |
| Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc | WBA, -2.87% | -2.9% | -38.4% |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. | JPM, -3.05% | -3.1% | -28.1% |
| 3M Co. | MMM, -3.23% | -3.2% | -9.2% |
| Dow Inc. | DOW, -4.67% | -4.7% | -15.1% |
| Caterpillar Inc. | CAT, -7.43% | -7.4% | 5.1% |
| Source: FactSet | |||
You can click on the tickers for more about each company.
S&P 500
The S&P 500 is weighted by market capitalization, which means the index’s good showing on Wednesday was driven by large gains for health insurers and tech companies. Only 47% of the S&P 500 were up for the session. Here are the day’s 10 best performers:
| Company | Ticker | Price change – Nov. 4 | Price change – 2020 |
| Biogen Inc. | BIIB, +43.97% | 44.0% | 19.8% |
| Cigna Corp. | CI, +14.54% | 14.5% | 3.0% |
| Eli Lilly and Co. | LLY, +13.44% | 13.4% | 13.1% |
| Anthem, Inc. | ANTM, +11.72% | 11.7% | 8.6% |
| UnitedHealth Group Inc. | UNH, +10.33% | 10.3% | 20.6% |
| Facebook Inc. Class A | FB, +8.32% | 8.3% | 40.0% |
| PayPal Holdings Inc. | PYPL, +8.05% | 8.1% | 79.6% |
| MSCI Inc. Class A | MSCI, +7.78% | 7.8% | 54.2% |
| Paycom Software Inc. | PAYC, +7.66% | 7.7% | 50.1% |
| D.R. Horton Inc. | DHI, +7.61% | 7.6% | 41.7% |
| Source: FactSet | |||
Nasdaq-100
Among components of the Nasdaq-100 Index NDX, +4.40%, 83 climbed Wednesday. Here are the 10 best performers for the session:
| Company | Ticker | Price change – Nov. 4 | Price change – 2020 |
| Biogen Inc. | BIIB, +43.97% | 44.0% | 19.8% |
| Pinduoduo Inc. ADR Class A | PDD, +12.83% | 12.8% | 191.5% |
| DocuSign Inc. | DOCU, +12.75% | 12.8% | 217.1% |
| Facebook Inc. Class A | FB, +8.32% | 8.3% | 40.0% |
| PayPal Holdings Inc. | PYPL, +8.05% | 8.1% | 79.6% |
| Incyte Corp. | INCY, +7.36% | 7.4% | 4.5% |
| Adobe Inc. | ADBE, +7.31% | 7.3% | 47.7% |
| Charter Communications Inc. Class A | CHTR, +7.17% | 7.2% | 30.8% |
| Zoom Video Communications Inc. Class A | ZM, +7.12% | 7.1% | 610.9% |
| Seagen Inc. | SGEN, +6.82% | 6.8% | 57.5% |
| Source: FactSet | |||
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