NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – Despite the still completely unclear outcome of the US presidential election, the US stock markets continued their clear recovery course on Wednesday. In the run-up to this, stockbrokers had feared the scenario of a hanging game with a dragging election result and possible legal challenges. The winners list was led by stocks from the health and communications sectors.
The Dow Jones Industrial rose above the 28,000 mark in early trading. In late business, however, it crumbled noticeably and closed with an increase of 1.34 percent at 27,847.66 points. The Dow plus this week now adds up to around 5 percent, with which the leading index already largely made up for its 6.5 percent loss from the previous week.
The market-wide S&P 500 gained 2.20 percent on Wednesday to 3443.44 points. The Nasdaq 100 benefited from clear price premiums of some technology heavyweights and advanced 4.41 percent to 11,777.02 points.
In the still open election battle in the USA, the Democratic challenger Joe Biden improved his chances of victory. According to the AP news agency, Biden prevailed against incumbent Donald Trump in contested Wisconsin, and during the ongoing vote count he was also initially ahead in Michigan and Nevada.
Republican Trump renewed unsubstantiated claims that there had been massive election fraud. On election night, Trump declared himself the winner in the White House during the ongoing count and announced that he would bring his claim to the United States Supreme Court.
The few company news in the shadow of the election crime caused significant price movements. The shares of Uber and Lyft jumped 14.6 and 11.3 percent respectively after the Californians overturned a law in a referendum that granted Uber and Lyft drivers the status of employees. The driving service brokers had announced that they would cease operations in the state, or at least limit them if it remained in force.
But the bird was shot by the shares of Biogen. Positive statements from FDA circles about the effects of an Alzheimer’s drug catapulted stocks 44 percent to their highest level since early February. While two studies with the active ingredient aducanumab had produced contradicting results, FDA officials said on Wednesday that the effect in one study was “robust and extremely convincing”. This was taken as an indication that the authority could approve the agent.
In the case of the semiconductor manufacturers AMD and Intel, the shareholders were able to look forward to price increases of 6.2 and 1.9 percent respectively, after the South Korean industry colleague Hynix reported a profit jump for the third quarter. A new buy recommendation from the US investment bank Goldman Sachs also supported AMD.
UnitedHealth Group stocks topped the Dow, gaining more than 10 percent. The health insurer is paying a cash dividend of $ 1.25 per share. At the Dow end, however, ranked the papers of the construction machinery company Caterpillar, which sagged 7.4 percent.
The euro was stable in US trade and last cost 1.1721 US dollars. The European Central Bank (ECB) had set the reference rate at 1.1721 (Tuesday: 1.1702) dollars. The dollar had thus cost 0.8532 (0.8546) euros. US Treasuries posted gains. The futures contract for ten-year Treasuries (T-Note-Future) recently rose by 0.68 percent to 138.93 points. The yield on the ten-year bond fell to 0.77 percent./edh/he
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