US stocks rally as election voting gets underway

U.S. stocks rallied Tuesday, as bullish bets continued.just as voting in a tightly contested presidential election got underway. 

At 1:08 p.m. ET (18:07 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 418 points, or 0.2%, the S&P 500 index rose 1.2%, while the NASDAQ Composite gained 1.4%.   Trump, Harris head for tight presidential election

Investors were on edge as recent polls showed Donald Trump and Kamala Harris were neck-and-neck in the upcoming presidential election, with the results likely to dictate trade and tax policies over the course of the next four years.

While earlier polls had shown Trump gaining some ground over Harris, this trend appeared to have reversed going into the election.

Trump is expected to roll out more inflationary policies and impose tougher trade tariffs on China- a scenario that could bode poorly for the big tech sector, while Harris has proposed increased taxes on high net worth individuals and big businesses, while easing the tax burden on families.  Fed set to cut interest rates 

Also limiting activity Tuesday is the proximity to Thursday's Federal Reserve policy-setting meeting, with the central bank widely expected to cut rates by 25 basis points , after a 50 bps cut in September. 

Recent data showing sticky inflation and strength in the U.S. economy have cast some doubts over just how much interest rates will fall in the coming months, given that the Fed has signaled a data-driven approach to any further easing.

Still, weak nonfarm payrolls data released on Friday showed the labor market was cooling, which could keep the Fed biased towards more easing. 

Focus will be squarely on an address by Chair Jerome Powell on the bank’s plans for future rate cuts.  Palantir shines on earnings stage 

Third-quarter earnings have provided a series of mixed cues, after a swathe of middling big tech earnings from last week. 

As far as Tuesday is concerned, data software firm Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR ) rallied over 22% as its earnings beat expectations while providing upbeat revenue.

The company's US commercial business, which remains a "key metric for the bulls, grew 54% y/y above the company’s guidance range of 47%+ as enterprise customers continue spending more across marquee products with 104 deals of at least $1 million," Wedbush said in a note as 

Restaurant Brands (NYSE:QSR ) stock fell 1% after the company missed estimates for quarterly revenue due to weak demand across key businesses such as Tim Hortons, Burger King and international markets including China and the Middle East.

Astera Labs Inc (NASDAQ:ALAB ) jumped more than 30% after reporting quarterly result that beat analyst estimates.  Boeing agrees deal with striking machinists; Dollar Tree CEO resigns

Boeing (NYSE:BA ) stock fell 1% after striking workers accepted a new contract offer after a vote, ending a prolonged and crippling strike.

Trump Media & Technology (NASDAQ:DJT ) stock rose over 14%, suggesting investors feel confident about the former president‘s chances of regaining the White House.

Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR ) fell 1.2% after the discount store said CEO Rick Dreiling will resign and Chief Operating Officer Michael Creedon Jr will take over on an interim basis. Crypto stocks ride Bitcoin higher

Cryptocurrency-related stocks including COIN, MSTR RIOT were up sharply following a climb in bitcoin above $70,000.

(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)

Source: Investing.com