Home » Latest » Headlines » Markets skyrocket after Biden’s Super Tuesday performance

Markets skyrocket after Biden’s Super Tuesday performance

3

InfoSearched 47 0 Headlines

7.5

SaveSavedRemoved 0

Wall Street just handed Joe Biden the biggest one-day rally investors have seen in months.

A day after Biden’s blowout Super Tuesday performance, stocks tore through a brutal stretch of coronavirus-driven losses and posted their best session since 2009. FOX Business correspondent Kristina Partsinevelos pointed to an “anti-Bernie Sanders” bump as the driving force, with traders betting that a Biden nomination means less disruption for corporate America than a Sanders one would.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 1,173.45 points (4.53%) to close at 27,090.86, with all 30 components finishing higher.
• The S&P 500 jumped 126.75 points (4.22%) to 3,130.12, led by healthcare names like UnitedHealth Group (up 10.7%) and Centene (up 15.6%) that had been battered by fears over Sanders’ Medicare for All plan.
• The Nasdaq Composite climbed 334.09 points (3.85%) to 9,018.09, boosted by mega-caps Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Facebook.

The Anti-Bernie Bump

Biden’s resurgence on Super Tuesday reshuffled the Democratic race almost overnight, and investors reacted the way they typically do to reduced political uncertainty: they bought. Partsinevelos framed the rally as a direct market referendum on the two front-runners’ economic platforms, with traders favoring Biden’s incrementalism over Sanders’ push to overhaul corporate taxes and dismantle private health insurance.

Wall Street’s “anti-Bernie Sanders” bump sent healthcare stocks like UnitedHealth Group and Centene surging more than 10% apiece.

Healthcare and Tech Lead the Charge

The clearest signal of what was driving the rally sat in the healthcare sector, where managed-care giants that had been under pressure for weeks staged their sharpest single-day gains of the year. UnitedHealth Group’s 10.7% jump and Centene’s 15.6% surge reflected relief that Sanders’ single-payer push had lost momentum against Biden’s more moderate healthcare stance. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq’s advance leaned heavily on mega-cap technology names, with Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Facebook all posting strong gains as risk appetite returned across the board.

A Coronavirus Funding Package in the Background

The Super Tuesday fallout wasn’t the only tailwind. Congress was also moving on an $8.3 billion emergency coronavirus funding package, giving investors another reason to believe Washington was getting ahead of the outbreak that had hammered markets in the prior week. That combination — political clarity on the Democratic side and a coordinated federal response on the health side — helped reverse the steep declines stocks had suffered as coronavirus fears first rattled trading desks.

A Relief Rally, Not a Record

It’s worth being precise about what Wednesday’s session actually was: a sharp rebound from oversold levels, not a run to new record highs. The gains recouped losses racked up during a stretch of extreme volatility tied to the early spread of the coronavirus and the shifting odds in the Democratic primary, rather than pushing the Dow, S&P 500 or Nasdaq into uncharted territory. For a market that had been whipsawed for days, even a relief bounce of this size was a jolt — the Dow’s 1,173-point gain ranks among its largest single-day point moves on record, even if the index itself was still well off its highs.

Biden’s coalition now heads into a stretch of contests where suburban, moderate voters could keep tightening his grip on the nomination — and if Wall Street’s Wednesday reaction is any indication, traders will be watching the delegate math almost as closely as the exit polls.