It has been said over and over again that markets do not care for the uncertainty surrounding the presidential election. Well, markets were smiling this morning. Futures were higher and so were Asian markets. But Europe wasn't.
Monday night, the
U.S. Supreme Court
heard an appeal from the
Florida Supreme Court
regarding its decision to recount the ballots. The high court voted 7 to 2 against the Florida ruling, saying it violates equal protection under the law. That is, that there were Constitutional problems with the Florida ruling. The court, which was deeply divided along ideological lines, then voted Tuesday night 5 to 4 against using the recount to remedy the presidential impasse.
In other words, there will be no recount.
George W. Bush
will most likely become the 43rd U.S. president. Now, investors can wonder who his secretary of the treasury will be.
S&P 500
futures on
Globex
, an electronic exchange specializing in currency and index futures, were up 0.5 to 1399.8, with a gain of about 9 from fair value, as calculated by
Prudential Securities
.
Nasdaq 100
futures on
Globex
were up 45 to 2965, a gain of 53 from fair value as calculated by
TheStreet.com
.
Over on
Instinet
, where stocks can trade both before and after the trading bell rings, large-cap technology was rallying on the ruling.
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Report
, another name that investors believe a Bush presidency favors, last traded at $59.79, a gain of $1.41 from where it closed Tuesday.
Intel
(INTC) - Get Report
last traded at $37.50, a full $1 higher than Tuesday's close.
Cisco
(CSCO) - Get Report
and
Sun Microsystems
(SUNW) - Get Report
were also higher.
European markets were mixed. London's
FTSE 100
was at one point up more than 25 as investors traded stocks higher on hopes that American markets will rally when they open. Drug stocks, a market sector sensitive to a Bush presidency, helped the FTSE stay in the green. It was last up 12 to 6402.
Meanwhile, both France and Germany weren't looking as good. The Paris
CAC-40
fell 29 to 6019, while the Frankfurt
Xetra Dax
slid 33 to 6700.
The land of the rising sun broke ranks with the
Nasdaq Composite Index
, which fell Tuesday. Usually, the technology-laden
Nikkei
trades in lockstep with the American index, so when the Nasdaq goes up, the Nikkei usually follows suite in the following session. But Wednesday's post-close news from the Supreme Court helped Japanese markets shake off a bad American day. The Nikkei rose 54.04 to 15,168.68. Hong Kong's
Hang Seng
rose 292.13 to 15,621.73.
For Monday's postclose trading, see
The Night Watch.
