Global equities rallied to a record high Monday amid optimism about the outlook under a Joe Biden presidency. The dollar extended declines.
Last week’s embrace of risk continued Monday after Biden was declared the winner of the U.S. election over the weekend. S&P 500 futures rose about 1.5%, building on the strongest week since April for the benchmark, as the president-elect launched his transition effort.
Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index, which have outperformed since Tuesday’s vote, were up more than 2%.
Gains were broad-based in Asia and European stocks opened higher. The yuan and euro rose alongside the Australian and New Zealand dollars.
Treasuries were steady and oil pared some of Friday’s slide. Turkey’s lira surged after the installment of a new central bank chief.
Biden in his victory speech promised swift action against the pandemic and an orderly transfer of power, though President Donald Trump is weighing legal challenges and has so far refused to concede. As of Sunday there was a growing sense among Trump’s allies that he’d lost.
“A GOP senate majority should ensure that Trump’s pro-business policies stay intact,” said Joyce Chang, chair of global research at JPMorgan Securities. “For stocks, this is likely the best of both worlds.”
The MSCI All-Country World Index rose as much as 0.6% to 596.21 on Monday, surpassing the intraday high of 595.24 set Sept. 3.
With the U.S. election at an end, investor focus will likely return to the global economic recovery. That remains under threat from the resurgent coronavirus, with worldwide cases of Covid-19 surpassing 50 million.
The U.S. reported more than 100,000 new infections for a fourth consecutive day. Total U.S. cases neared 10 million with no slowdown in sight. Japan is facing rising infections in the northern island of Hokkaido.
