US STOCKS-Wall Street climbs as investors bet on Clinton victory

Dear Viewers,

U.S. stocks rose for a second straight session on Tuesday, helped by early voter turnout estimates favoring Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton in the U.S. presidential election.

Wall Street sees the former secretary of state as lending greater clarity and stability to the markets, while Republican candidate Donald Trump's stance on foreign policy, trade and immigration is less certain.

Data company VoteCastr, which is providing real-time election information through news outlets, including Slate, showed Clinton with an early lead among voters in Florida, a must-win state for Trump.

Several investors said VoteCastr's data had pushed stock prices higher, although they were cautious about its accuracy.

"We were dramatically oversold. People were nervous Trump would win," said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles. "There's likely to be additional volatility in both directions between now and the end of the day."

Shortly after 2:30 pm ET, the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 73.24 points, or 0.4 percent, to 18,332.84, the S&P 500 .SPX had gained 6.46 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,137.98 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC had added 20.96 points, or 0.41 percent, to 5,187.13.

The CBOE Volatility index .VIX, dubbed Wall Street's "fear gauge," reversed an early increase and dipped 0.75 after having notched its biggest one-day drop since late June on Monday.

The iShares MSCI Mexico Capped ETF (EWW.P), known of late as the "Trump ETF," rose 1.75 percent. The ETF is viewed as a barometer of Trump's chances of winning the election since his policies are considered negative for Mexico.

U.S. stocks opened slightly lower, then turned positive and extended the morning's gains.

Clinton has a 90 percent chance of defeating Trump, according to the final Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation poll released on Monday.

She was on track to win 303 votes in the electoral college to Trump's 235, clearing the 270 needed for victory. She also leads Trump by about 44 percent to 39 percent in the popular vote, according to the poll.

The S&P 500 has surged 2.7 percent since the FBI said on Sunday it would not press criminal charges against Clinton over her use of a private email server, an announcement seen as improving her chances at the polls.

Shares of Smith & Wesson Holding (SWHC.O) and Sturm Ruger & Co (RGR.N) both rose over 1.5 percent. Their sales have benefited in the past from fears among gun owners of increased gun control.

Aetna (AET.N) and Anthem (ANTM.N) jumped more than 2 percent. Both health insurers have gained from the Affordable Care Act, which Clinton has vowed to extend.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.48-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.35-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 22 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 56 new highs and 66 new lows. Thanks.

US STOCKS-S&P set to snap losing streak after strong jobs report

Dear Viewers,

Wall Street gained modestly on Friday after a strong U.S. employment report as investors sought bargains after a spate of selling sparked by uncertainty over the impending U.S. elections.

The S&P 500 was on track to snap a streak of eight straight days of declines, which had been the benchmark's longest run of down days since the 2008 financial crisis. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was also on pace to snap an eight-session losing streak.

Over its losing streak, the S&P 500 had fallen nearly 3 percent. Investors have been unnerved by signs of a tightening presidential race between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, after Clinton had until recently been thought to have a clear lead.

"Investors are buying anything that looks like a dip and that is because the fundamentals continue to be pretty good even though I think there is a lot of anxiety about next week’s election," said Kate Warne, investment strategist with Edward Jones in St. Louis. "With the pullback, I think investors are seeing some bargains out there."

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 5.24 points, or 0.03 percent, to 17,935.91, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 3.78 points, or 0.18 percent, to 2,092.44 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 5.47 points, or 0.11 percent, to 5,063.88.

U.S. employers maintained a strong pace of hiring in October and boosted wages for workers, the Labor Department report on Friday showed. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 161,000 jobs last month amid gains in construction, healthcare and professional and business services.

While that was below economists' forecast for growth of 175,000 jobs, solid labor market fundamentals were underscored by revisions to August and September data, which showed 44,000 more jobs created than previously reported.

"The upward revisions over the last two months suggest that the overall picture is continued job growth," Warne said. "That means that consumers have more money and that should continue to support economic growth."

For the year, the S&P 500 is up 2.5 percent.

In an encouraging sign for stocks, S&P 500 companies are on pace to increase earnings by 3.9 percent in the third quarter, ending a four-quarter streak of profit declines, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Higher-than-expected quarterly profits from biotech company Regeneron (REGN.O) and health insurer Humana (HUM.N) lifted those companies' shares along with the S&P healthcare sector .SPXHC, which was the best performing group on Friday.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.55-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.75-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 4 new 52-week highs and 13 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 28 new highs and 126 new lows. Thanks.

GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks slip on U.S. election nerves; pound up on Brexit ruling

Dear Viewers,

NEW YORK Global equity prices drifted lower on Thursday as worries about the U.S. presidential election continued to weigh on investor sentiment, while sterling rose after a UK court ruled that the British government needed Parliament's approval to trigger Brexit.

Longer-dated U.S. Treasury prices slipped after the Bank of England indicated that inflation is likely to rise further, and oil prices remained weak on skepticism about OPEC's planned production limit.

MSCI's 47-country "All World" index .MIWD00000PUS fell 0.37 percent, dragged down by weakness on Wall Street.

The S&P 500 .SPX fell for an eighth straight session, its longest losing streak since the 2008 financial crisis, as Facebook shares weighed and investors grappled with uncertainty over next week's U.S. election.

Facebook (FB.O) shares fell as much as 6 percent, a day after the social media giant warned that revenue growth would slow this quarter.

"The polls have tightened and now the concern is more about what might a Trump presidency look like and the market hasn't quite priced that in," said Ernie Cecilia, chief investment officer of Bryn Mawr Trust in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

"Given the fact that the election is five days away, that's what's driving near-term behavior right now."

Investors have been unnerved in recent days by signs that the U.S. presidential race between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump was tightening just days before Tuesday's vote.

The CBOE Volatility Index .VIX, a gauge of near-term investor anxiety, rose 14 percent to its highest level since late June.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 28.97 points, or 0.16 percent, to close at 17,930.67, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 9.28 points, or 0.44 percent, to finish at 2,088.66 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 47.16 points, or 0.92 percent, to end at 5,058.41.

The pan-European STOXX 600 ended flat, giving up early gains as a strengthened pound weighed on the shares of internationally exposed companies, including Diageo (DGE.L).

Sterling surged to a four-week high after the UK court ruling soothed concerns about Brexit and the Bank of England scrapped plans to cut interest rates. It climbed as much as 1.5 percent to hit $1.2494 GBP=D4, its strongest since Oct. 7.

Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar hovered near multi-week lows against a basket of major currencies, ending a morning reprieve in which the greenback stabilized, on uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. The dollar index .DXY was down 0.25 percent to 97.156.

"We're now seeing markets price in a higher risk of a Trump presidency," said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington. "Most polls are still showing that it’s far too close to call, and that's ultimately what is keeping investors nervous."

In bond markets, longer-dated U.S. Treasury prices fell after the Bank of England indicated that inflation is likely to rise further, while uncertainty over the U.S. election propped up shorter-dated debt.

The BoE ramped up its forecasts for growth and predicted that inflation would jump to 2.7 percent this time next year, nearly triple its current level. [nL8N1D45PY]

Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR ended down 5/32 in price to yield 1.82 percent, up from 1.80 percent late on Wednesday.

Oil prices extended their recent slide as investors reacted to a record weekly surge in U.S. crude inventories and remained skeptical about whether the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries can actually implement its planned output cap.

Brent crude LCOc1 settled down 51 cents, or 1.09 percent, at $46.35 a barrel, and U.S. crude CLc1 settled down 68 cents, or 1.50 percent, at $44.66.

Gold edged higher in response to the lower dollar and uncertainty about the outcome of the U.S. presidential race.

Spot gold prices XAU= were up 0.49 percent to $1,303.26.  Thanks.