US equities edged lower on Friday as investors digested Joe Biden’s election victory, the market’s weakening upward momentum, and a better-than-expected …
US equities edged lower on Friday as investors digested Joe Biden’s election victory, the market’s weakening upward momentum, and a better-than-expected jobs report. Biden is projected to be the next US president after taking the lead in Georgia and Pennsylvania on Friday, according to data from Decision Desk HQ. His advances in Pennsylvania, where President Donald Trump had been winning, put Biden above the 270 electoral votes needed to be named president-elect. The election’s conclusion came after more than two full days of ballot counting and anticipation across the country. Republicans are still favored to maintain control of the Senate, creating the divided-government scenario investors warmed up to throughout the week. Here’s where US indexes stood at the 4 p.m. ET market close on Friday: Read more: From flipping burgers at McDonald’s to a self-made multimillionaire: How Willie Mandrell leveraged a simple real-estate investing strategy to acquire 40 units and achieve financial freedom Traders unwound bets on election outcomes as major stock indexes closed in on posting their best weekly gains since April. Energy and financial stocks fell the most, while the tech and consumer staples sectors gained slightly. Premarket stock futures trimmed early losses after the government’s monthly nonfarm-payrolls report showed a stronger labor-market performance than expected. The US economy added 638,000 jobs in October, more than the 580,000 additions expected by economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
