Everything is quiet on Wall Street on this wonderful day, so here’s a quick summary.
Global stock markets posted their strongest weekly gains since AprilWhile Joe Biden is getting closer and closer to the US presidency.
The US S&P 500 Corporate Index put in 7% this weekA big rebound from last week’s losses. This is the strongest rally since markets were recovering from their March fall:
Investors are welcoming the possibility of some political certainty, after a long and arduous campaign. All eyes are now turning to the issue of the new fiscal stimulus package.
Oliver Jones, chief market economist at Capital Economics, told The Guardian:
To be sure, there is some relief that things like tougher tax policy and tougher corporate reforms seem off the table without Democrats controlling Congress.
“Basically, it will look more like the status quo, which is the result that most companies like,”
However, the Senate battle is not officially over – it may remain unresolved until January, if both seats in Georgia are decided by a runoff that could lead to a 50:50 split.
Control of the Senate will determine the size of the next fiscal stimulus package, the prospects for tax reforms and regulations for big technology
In London, the FTSE 100 recorded its best week since June, ending at a three-week high.
The global rally also pushed Japan’s Nikkei index to its highest close in 29 years – since the asset boom exploded in the 1980s.
The latest US jobs report showed the challenge facing the White House. Encouragingly, the unemployment rate fell sharply to 6.9% last month, as non-farm payrolls jumped by 638,000. But that still means 10 million jobs have still been lost since the pandemic began.
In other news …
More than 860 people lost their jobs instantly, and another 2,000 jobs were at risk after the Edinburgh chain, Woolen Mill and hardware retailer Ponden Home called in officials.
House prices in the UK rose at the fastest annual rate in more than four years in October.
EasyJet is scaling back its schedule further after the introduction of new lockdowns in the UK and mainland Europe, and will only operate a maximum of 20% of its planned flights for the rest of the year.
Stay tuned for our amazing blog, US Politics Live for the latest election actions – and Joe Biden is due to speak later …. Gw
