Investors on Wall Street did not seem to panic, as stocks continued to rise through Thursday, a day after the US Capitol building was besieged by Trump supporters, CNBC reported on Thursday.
Thursday marked the first-ever close above 13,000 for the Nasdaq. It was also the first time that a session ended above 31,000 and 3,800, respectively, for the Dow and S&P 500.
As Microsoft and Alphabet shares both jumped more than 2% and Apple rose 3.4%, the Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.6% to 13,067.48. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 211.73 points, or 0.7%, to 31,041.13. The Dow was up more than 300 points at one point. The S&P 500, a barometer for the top 500 US stocks on the New York Stock Exchange, climbed 1.5% to 3,803.79.
According to CNBC, shares of JPMorgan Chase advanced 3.3% after the banking giant was upgraded to buy from neutral by an analyst at Bank of America. To lift the S&P500, the tech and consumer discretionary sectors rose 2.7% and 1.8%, respectively.
"There should be no mystery as to why the markets didn’t care about what happened in the Capital [on Wednesday], however disturbing, disgraceful, and embarrassing it was,” CNBC quotes Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group. "It’s because it has no bearing on the direction of the economy, earnings and interest rates. It’s that simple."
"I think the reason the markets aren’t too flummoxed is it’s not going to change the transition of power," said Tom Lee, Fundstrat Global Advisors co-founder.
“With the political tensions easing, more stimulus expected to help boost the economy, and coronavirus vaccines helping bring a measure of calm to investors and traders, it seems that the market can now focus on earnings season,” chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade, JJ Kinahan, added, stating that the Georgia runoff election gave investors "more clarity" by "solidifying Democrat control in Washington and increasing expectations of more stimulus to come".
On Wednesday, a group of Trump supporters engaged with police in a stand-off that lasted several hours and left at least four people dead, including a female Air-Force veteran who was shot by a police officer. The events were condemned by US political figures and many world leaders as a "threat to democracy".
After the protesters were pushed back from the Capitol by the police with the imposition of a curfew, Congress reconvened to certify the election results, ultimately confirming Joe Biden's win in the presidential election.
Afterward, US President Trump issued a statement via his deputy chief of staff for communications, that his administration would facilitate the "orderly transition of power".