Coming off its biggest stock market rally in eight months, Wall Street is in wait-and-see mode today as Americans hit voting booths and investors brace to see who will be the next U.S. president, USA Today reports.
Investors are cautious ahead of today’s tight vote, a day after the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 371 points and the broad stock market snapped its longest losing streak in 36 years.
That snap came after FBI director James Comey said on Sunday the agency is not recommending criminal charges against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton over her emails.
Investors interpreted the agency’s decision as boosting Clinton’s chance to win the tight election race with Republican challenger Donald Trump.
At this morning’s open, the Dow was down about 30 points, or 0.2%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index fell 0.2% and the Nasdaq composite was off 0.2%.
After Monday’s big rally, Wall Street debated whether the stock surge was the start of a longer relief rally if Clinton wins, as the ex-secretary of State and First Lady is viewed as more of a status quo candidate. Or whether it was setting the market up for a vicious fall if Trump, viewed more negatively by Wall Street due to his unpredictability and negative views toward free trade, engineers a surprise win.
