US stocks rise as election voting starts; Palantir shines

U.S. stocks rose Tuesday, as voting began in a tightly contested presidential election which is likely to influence future Wall Street trading.

At 09:35 ET (14:35 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 65 points, or 0.2%, the S&P 500 index rose 26 points, or 0.5%, while the NASDAQ Composite gained 125 points, or 0.7%.   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 he 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.  Quarterly earnings continue 

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 15% as its earnings beat expectations while providing upbeat revenue.

Restaurant Brands (NYSE:QSR ) stock fell 3% 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.

Elsewhere, Boeing (NYSE:BA ) stock rose 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 11%, 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.  Crude pushes higher 

Oil prices rose Tuesday, adding to the previous session’s gains after a group of top producers decided to continue to curb supply.

By 09:35 ET, the Brent contract gained 0.9% to $75.78 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures (WTI) traded 1% higher at $72.20 a barrel.

Both benchmarks had registered hefty gains on Monday (NASDAQ:MNDY ) after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, announced that it will again delay a planned output hike of 180,000 barrels per day by at least a month.

This was the second time OPEC+ has extended its 2.2 million bpd cut, illustrating how concerned the producing countries are about global demand.   (Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)

 

Source: Investing.com