Wall Street stocks climbed Wednesday morning after Democrats won control of the Senate and House in the midterm elections. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 1,100 points, or 2.2%, to nearly 53,000, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 2.4%.
Analysts said the result eased some political uncertainty, while investors anticipated that divided control in Washington could limit policy changes. Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, told CNBC that gridlock has historically been favorable for markets. He also pointed to President Donald Trump’s initial response to the results, after Trump told The New York Times he would accept them.
As of Wednesday morning, Democrats led Republicans 54-44 in the Senate, with races in Mississippi and Alaska still undecided, according to the Associated Press. Democrats had won 228 House seats, compared with 139 for Republicans, while results in 68 races remained outstanding.
Several media stocks also rose in early trading. Netflix and Comcast were each up 4%, Disney gained 3.8%, Skydance rose 2.8% and Fox Corp. advanced 2.4%. Major technology stocks were higher as well: Apple gained 6%, Amazon 7.6%, Alphabet 4.9% and Meta 2.4%.
The gains were not universal. SpaceX shares fell 1.3% and Tesla was down 2.4%. Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates Truth Social, dropped more than 10%, taking its market value below $1.5 billion. Reuters reported last month that the Trump family trust owns 41% of the company.
Sources: Variety.