Preopen Trading: Futures Gain Despite Uncertain Presidential Election Results

Put away the hammer there, sluggo. Nothing has been nailed down.

It seems like the entire world is holding its breath while the Presidential race sorts itself out. European markets were rather tentative and positive. Futures in the U.S. looked higher and were gaining some ground as the opening bell in New York approached.

S&P 500 futures that trade on Globex were up 3 to 1447, about 7 points above fair value as calculated by Prudential Securities. Nasdaq 100 futures, which track large cap tech stocks, were up 16.5 to 3330.5, about 28 points above fair value as calculated by TheStreet.com. Fair value helps gauge how stocks will trade in early action, and today they are pointing to a positive open.

Over on Instinet, an electronic exchange where stocks continue trading even when the regular markets are closed, trading seems to favor a George W. Bush win. Microsoft (MSFT Quote), which many believe would benefit from a Bush presidency given the historical Republican tendency toward leaving big business alone, last traded at $72, some $1.50 higher than where it closed yesterday. Tobacco giant Philip Morris (MO Quote), another company that is expected to get a boost from a Bush White House, last traded at $36.38, $1.13 higher than its Tuesday close.

There's not much going on across the pond as markets in Europe await the New York open to make a decisive move, if such a move will be made today. Some say the close race in Florida, which will determine the outcome of the presidential race, may take days to sort out. The British FTSE lately rose 8.8 to 6475.7. On the continent, the CAC in Paris rose 17.5 to 6403.6, while the German Xetra Dax rose 9 to 7085.28.

Asian markets rose higher during the midsession, but faltered near the end. The Nikkei 225 scraped out a win, gaining 59.3 to 15,399.6. And after being as high as 16,000, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended with a loss of 166.7 to 15,654.1.

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For Tuesday's postclose trading, see The Night Watch.