US Stocks finish higher on Vaccine Results, Biden Win

The US stock market finished session sharp higher on Monday, 09 November 2020, as risk sentiments bolstered after progress on a Covid-19 vaccine and Democrat Joe Biden's electoral victory.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index advanced 834.57 points, or 2.95%, to 29,157.97. The S&P 500 index added 41.06 points, or 1.17%, to 3,550.50. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 181.45 points, or 1.53%, to 11,713.78.

Market players welcomed Biden's victory as it removed some U.S. political uncertainty and raised expectations he will implement a large fiscal stimulus package to boost the coronavirus-hit economy. Biden has pledged $2 trillion to upgrade America's infrastructure and shift to a clean-energy economy. Democrats are also calling for $2 trillion for an additional stimulus package to fight the economic fallout from the virus. Biden, the vice president under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, is seeking a tax hike on wealthy individuals and wants to raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. However, the level is still lower than the 35% rate that was in place when Trump took office nearly four years ago.

Investors also cheered trial data from drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech indicating their Covid-19 vaccine is more than 90% effective. The vaccine announcement was seen on Wall Street as a sign that the pharmaceutical industry may soon have a viable way to control a disease that has derailed the U.S. economy for much of 2020 and has killed more than 230,000 Americans.

Among Indian ADR, Vedanta added 9.83% to $5.70, Tata Motors added 7.48% to $10.20, ICICI Bank grew 10.8% to $13.44, HDFC Bank added 5.22% to $66.76, and WNS Holdings rose 6.01% to $67.57. Azure Power Global fell 0.37% to $29.54, Dr Reddys Labs declined 3.45% to $64.40, Wipro fell 0.59% to $5.08, and INFOSYS fell 0.67% to $14.83.

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