Stocks rebound from last week’s sell-off, Dow jumps more than 400 points

Stocks jumped on Monday, the first trading day of the month, as markets tried to recover from a brutal week and month ahead of the U.S. presidential election. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 422 points higher, or 1.6%. The S&P 500 gained 1.6% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7%.

Ahead of Tuesday’s election, Joe Biden holds a substantial national lead over President Donald Trump. The former vice president garnered 52% of support from registered voters versus 42% for the president, according to a NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll from Sunday. Investors betting on a potential Biden victory increased positions on solar stocks. The Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) rose more than 2.7%.

The Senate election could also be crucial for the markets as many key policy shifts including further fiscal stimulus hinge on who holds the majority control. Some on Wall Street believe the sell-off leading up to Election Day gives the market less downside risk to a contested result.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Saturday England is closing all nonessential businesses for the next four weeks after more than 22,600 weekly Covid-19 cases were reported for the U.K., far higher than its first peak of 4,800 average weekly cases in the spring. People will be ordered to stay at home unless it’s for essential purposes, Johnson said.

The U.S. is also grappling with rising new coronavirus infections. The nation reported 99,321 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, beating its previous record set only a day prior, according to Johns Hopkins University. The top five records in daily cases have all been reported within the last eight days.

Stocks rebound from last week’s sell-off, Dow jumps more than 400 points, CNBC, Nov 2