NEW YORK – U.S. stocks gained for a second day with commodities, while the dollar and Treasuries fell, as Americans headed to polls to elect a president. Australia’s dollar rallied as the central bank left interest rates unchanged.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index increased 0.4 percent to 1,422.69 and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.5 percent at 10:25 a.m. in New York. Australia’s currency strengthened 0.6 percent to $1.0429. Treasury 10-year notes snapped a two-day advance, sending yields up one basis point to 1.70 percent, and the dollar weakened against 14 of 16 major peers. Sugar, lead and gasoline led gains in commodities.
U.S. voters decide today between giving President Barack Obama another four years or replacing him with Republican challenger Mitt Romney. The next president will need to address a so-called fiscal cliff of more than $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts that take effect in 2013 unless Congress can reach a budget compromise.
“We’re moving closer to a definition on the election front,” said Mark Luschini, who helps manage $54 billion as chief investment strategist for Philadelphia-based Janney Montgomery Scott LLC. “It’s offering investors reason to say: we move from the unknown category regardless of the outcome.”
Energy, industrial and financial shares led an advance in eight of the 10 main industries in the S&P 500. United Technologies Corp., Boeing Co. and International Business Machines Corp. rose more than 1 percent for the best gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Market leaders
Building a Strong Data Foundation in the Age of AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a key priority in the boardroom and across management —…
Learn More
Computer Sciences Corp., the manager of networks for NASA and the U.S. Navy, climbed 15 percent after a cost-cutting program helped the company boost its annual profit forecast. Intel slipped 0.6 percent after yesterday’s 1 percent drop. Three people with knowledge of the work said yesterday that Apple engineers have grown confident that the chip designs used for its mobile devices will one day be powerful enough to run its Mac desktops and laptops. Apple began using Intel chips for Macs in 2005.
Of S&P 500 companies that have released third-quarter results, 71 percent beat analysts’ profit estimates, while 60 percent missed sales projections, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Nineteen members of the index are due to report earnings today.
Subfreezing temperatures and confusion greeted voters in storm-ravaged New York and New Jersey, where officials moved more than 240 polling sites damaged by Hurricane Sandy to alternate locations.
“The worst case market scenario is likely to be a narrow Obama victory where a bruised Republican party has enough power and frustration to cause large fiscal cliff tensions,” Jim Reid, a strategist at Deutsche Bank AG in London, wrote in a report. “A Romney win would likely be market positive initially, with the risk being that the market turns its attention to what it means for Fed accommodation.”
More than two stocks gained for each that fell in the Stoxx 600. Hannover Re rallied 5.4 percent as the world’s fourth- biggest reinsurer said it expects record earnings this year. ARM Holdings Plc climbed 1.9 percent on the report Apple was considering ways to replace Intel processors in its personal computers. Volkswagen AG, Europe’s biggest carmaker, fell 4 percent after announcing the sale of as much as 2.5 billion euros ($3.2 billion) in convertible bonds.
Greece, Germany
The European Union’s top economic commissioner said euro leaders need to lock down an agreement on tackling Greece’s debt by next week. German factory orders fell the most in a year in September, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said today..
German two-year note yields were at minus 0.014 percent, negative for a second day. Orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, slumped 3.3 percent from August, when they dropped a revised 0.8 percent, the Economy Ministry said. That’s the second straight drop and the biggest since September 2011.
The S&P GSCI gauge of commodities jumped 0.7 percent, with 22 of 24 materials rising. Wheat for delivery in December gained 1.1 percent in Chicago as deteriorating crop conditions in the U.S., the largest exporter, added to global supply concerns. Oil rose 0.6 percent to $86.19 a barrel and gasoline climbed 1.2 percent to $2.6514 a gallon.
Australia’s currency strengthened against all 16 major peers. The Reserve Bank of Australia left the overnight cash- rate target at 3.25 percent, citing a stabilizing global economy.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index advanced 0.4 percent, led by consumer and technology shares. South Korea’s Kospi Index jumped 1.1 percent as Samsung Electronics Co. climbed to a four- week high after researcher IDC said the company’s share of the tablet market increased. Taiwan’s Taiex Index added 0.7 percent. Russia’s Micex Index increased 0.5 percent and India’s Sensex added 0.3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.4 percent before the start of China’s leadership congress.
