Stocks Recover 'Big League' From 800 Point Futures Drop Following Trump Victory
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Stocks saw solid gains Wednesday, defying expectations of a slump in financial markets following Donald Trump 's stunning victory in the the U.S. presidential race.
Global markets, which had been jittery over the prospect of a Trump administration in recent weeks, plunged overnight after it became apparent that he was leading at the polls.
The Dow Jones industrial index flirted with record territory, shooting up 257 points, or 1.4 percent, to close at 18,589. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 24 points, or 1.1 percent, to 2,163. The Nasdaq composite added 58 points, or 1.1 percent, to 5,258.
The Nikkei and Hang Seng both took a hit. The Mexican peso also fell to record lows, but gold prices on the other hand, surged.
Dow futures had plunged 800 points late Tuesday and early Wednesday as Trump posted wins in key battleground states. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were down 5%, hitting the trading limit allowed under market rules.
One reason investors may be signaling their approval is that Trump's election could short-circuit possible plans by the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates as early as December, as many Wall Street analysts had expected.
Trump also sounded a conciliatory tone in his victory speech, encouraging hope that he could moderate some of his more extreme positions once in the White House.
"Gonna be a lot of trading," asset management marketing strategist Daniel Darst told CBS2's Magdalena Doris. "I'm not one to say what's going to happen, but it's going to be a very busy time."
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The gains were led by drug makers, which would have faced the likelihood of price controls under Clinton. Pfizer jumped soared 8 percent, the biggest gain in the Dow Jones industrial average.
Hospital operators sank. Trump has promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act. HCA Holdings plunged 14 percent. Bond prices also fell, sending yields higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.98 percent.
"Markets don't like uncertainty and there's just so many questions surrounding Donald Trump and his policies and his presidency and what it would mean from everything from trade to immigration to taxes," CBS News correspondent Jill Wagner said. "That's really the question hanging over the markets right now."
Typically major changes and shifts in power cause a stir. When the Brexit vote came down in Britain, the Dow fell 610 points. At one point Tuesday night, futures dropped 800 points.
"Look at what happens after election in Columbia, Brexit -- big kick and then things settle out," said Darst. "I have no idea what's going to happen, no one knows."
Those who work in Wall Street are confident that what goes down, must come up.
"We'll see where it is by the end of the day," said hedge fund manager Leo Esnes. "By the end of the day, we'll recover almost all of it."
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