Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on October 27, 2022 in New York City. Stocks continued their bullish gains on Thursday with the Dow climbing nearly 400 points after a new GDP report beat expectations.
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Stock futures were basically flat after recent market gains as midterm election results lingered with control of the US House and Senate still up in the air.
S&P 500 futures rose 0.1%, while Dow futures were down 10 points. Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.2%.
The stock is coming off a three-day streak of gains, so it may have been due for a break. The Dow rose 333 points on Tuesday for its third straight session of gains of more than 1%. The rebound in stocks may be due in part to the election, where Wall Street expected Republicans to gain ground and create a mess in Washington, DC.
But control of the houses of Congress was not clear overnight until now.
Morgan Stanley’s U.S. equity strategist Mike Wilson told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” that if the government ends up being split it could help ease concerns about inflation and higher interest rates in the future.
“It looks like the House is going to go the Republican way,” Wilson said. “That means gridlock. It’s probably going to get less tax spending.”
The recent market rally is coming at the end of a strong seasonal period. Historically, stocks tend to rise after midterm elections and the political clarity that comes with them, and the last two months of the year are considered a bullish period for investors.
One stock that weighed on futures was Disney, which fell more than 6% in extended trading after the entertainment giant missed estimates on top and bottom-line results for its fourth quarter fiscal