Stock futures rise as Wall Street awaits midterm election results

Stock futures rose slightly on Tuesday evening as polls began to close in US midterm elections.

Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.5%, while S&P 500 futures rose 0.2%. Dow futures were marginally higher.

Stocks are retreating from three straight days of gains, with the Dow rising 333 points on Tuesday for the third straight session, adding more than 1%. The stock rebound may be partly due to the election, as Wall Street expects Republicans to gain ground and create a stalemate in Washington, DC.

Mike Wilson, chief US equity strategist at Morgan Stanley, said:closing bell“A divided government could help ease concerns about inflation and higher interest rates in the future.

“In order to get more support for this rally, we feel that prices need to come down. … Tonight’s election could be very important in that regard, because it looks like the House will go the Republican way. That means stalemate,” Wilson said. Potentially, less fiscal spending will materialize.” He added that it was unclear whether markets had actually set prices on a Republican big night.

The recent rally in the market occurs at the front of a strong seasonal period. Historically, stocks tend to rise after the midterm elections and the political clarity they bring, and the last two months of the year are a bullish period for investors.

One of the stocks that weighed on futures was Disney, which fell more than 6% in extended trading after the entertainment giant missed estimates in its top and bottom line. fiscal fourth quarter.