Wall Street today: US stocks rally, led by chips & techs as investors await election outcome

US stocks rallied on Tuesday with chips and technology shares climbing as strong economic data boosted sentiments, while investors awaited the outcome of the tightly contested presidential election and other potentially market-rattling events this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 382.09 points, or 0.91 per cent, to 42,176.69, the S&P 500 gained 59.65 points, or 1.04 per cent, at 5,772.34 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 232.84 points, or 1.28 per cent, to 18,412.82.

The Institute for Supply Management said its non-manufacturing purchasing managers index, a gauge of the services sector, accelerated to 56.0 last month, its highest since August 2022, from 54.9 the prior month.

Investors are concerned about the uncertainty about the election outcome as it may not be known for days or weeks as officials count all the votes.

Another potential factor for volatility, the Federal Reserve will be meeting on interest rates later this week.

GlobalFoundries shares surged 14.73 per cent after the chipmaker’s upbeat forecasts. Nvidia advanced 2.4 per cent.

Stocks of Meta Platforms gained 1.91 per cent, and Tesla rose 3.91 per cent.

Palantir shares soared 23 per cent to a record high after the data analytics firm raised its annual revenue forecast.

Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., the parent company of Truth Social platform, pared gains and closed 1.00 per cent higher. Earlier in the session, the stock jumped more than 15 per cent after former president's odds improved in betting markets, which many investors have been following for any indication on the election outcome.

Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average each rose 0.2 per cent before the opening bell.

Boeing shares pared gains  and fell 2.1 per cent after its factory workers, who had been on strike, voted to accept the planemaker’s latest contract offer.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.31 per cent from 4.29 per cent late on Monday. 

US dollar

The US dollar slid to a two-week low versus a basket of other currencies as traders squared positions ahead of the US election.

The dollar index was last down 0.32 per cent at 103.60. The euro gained 0.29 per cent to $1.0908. The greenback dipped 0.19 per cent to 151.84 Japanese yen.

Crude oil

Oil prices held steady on Tuesday as the market waits for voters to cast ballots in US presidential election.

Brent crude oil futures rose 2 cents to $75.10 a barrel by 1:48 p.m. EST (1848 GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 4 cents, or 0.1 per cent, to $71.51 per barrel.

Bullion

Gold prices edged up on Tuesday as investors braced for political tensions after opinion polls showed Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are neck and neck in the US presidential race.

Spot gold gained 0.2 per cent to $2,740.96 an ounce by 01:54 p.m. ET (1852 GMT). US gold futures settled 0.1 per cent higher at $2,749.70.

Spot silver rose 0.4 per cent to $32.59 an ounce.