Stocks edge higher as Biden victory looms
Global stock markets edged higher and the dollar sank to a two-month low as investors waited for the final vote processing in the U.S. presidential election. In Europe, treasury yields rose on better-than-expected October employment data, while oil prices slid below $40 a barrel as new lockdowns to halt the surging COVID-19 pandemic dimmed the demand outlook. MSCI’s all-country world stock index rose 0.25% to 592.84, adding to a week-long rally in which the benchmark for global equity performance advanced almost 8% to post its best week in nearly seven months. The index also topped highs last seen in September. The broad pan-regional FTSEurofirst 300 index closed down 0.12% to 1,418.13, while emerging market stocks rose 0.96% in Europe.
Biden expanded narrow leads over President Donald Trump in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Georgia, but Georgia ordered a recount that could lead to a long period of uncertainty. Biden was expected to address the nation Friday evening, in what could be a victory speech. Stocks on Wall Street rebounded from early profit-taking from the week’s big gains to close little changed as a Biden presidency appeared inevitable and a sense of resignation settled in at the White House. “It’s more certain that we’re going to have Biden as president and more importantly we won’t have Trump as there’s so much unpredictability with Trump,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment strategist at Inverness Counsel in New York. “The unpredictability of a president makes investing in any area that he can potentially touch, like China, fraught with risk. All a sudden China is a less risky investment without Trump,” Ghriskey said. Trump vowed to continue his legal fight and said in a statement, “I will never give up fighting for you and our nation.”