“Wall Street greeted President Bush’s reelection with a broad stock market rally Wednesday, led by sectors thought to benefit from his policies – and potentially threatened by a Kerry administration. Shares in defense, energy, healthcare and pharmaceutical companies were among those posting big gains,” Josh Friedman and Thomas S. Mulligan report for The Los Angeles Times.
“With a stronger showing than he achieved in the disputed election of 2000, Bush is expected to quickly pursue his top legislative priorities, including creating individual Social Security accounts that taxpayers could manage on their own. Such a system could be a windfall for Wall Street powerhouses such as Citigroup and Morgan Stanley,” Friedman and Mulligan report. “Wall Street’s relief over the Republican incumbent’s victory is likely to continue in the short term, some strategists said, noting that stocks had been trading sideways since the summer amid political uncertainty and terrorism fears.”
“Technology stocks were mixed Wednesday, and it was not clear what effect, if any, Bush’s win had on the sector,” Friedman and Mulligan report. “Stalwarts such as Microsoft and Dell were up, and Apple Computer of Cupertino, Calif., hit a new 52-week high, gaining $1.81 to $55.31. But semiconductor stocks were largely down, as an industry trade group cut its forecast for chip sales in 2005. Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group President Carl Guardino said that one threat – the possibility that Kerry would make it tougher to send work offshore, a common tech practice – was eliminated by Bush’s reelection.”
Full article here.