Wall Street today: US stocks edge higher after Joe Biden exits presidential race

US stock indices edged higher on Monday as investors assessed Donald Trump’s odds of winning the US election after President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race and endorsed Kamala Harris’s candidature

At 9:37 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 145.49 points, or 0.36 per cent, at 40,433.02, the S&P 500 was up 47.57 points, or 0.86 per cent, at 5,552.57, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 218.04 points, or 1.23 per cent, at 17,944.98.

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 126.96 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 40,414.49. The S&P 500 was higher by 39.54 points, or 0.72 per cent, at 5,544.54, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 196.71 points, or 1.11 per cent, to 17,923.65.

Big Tech stocks regained some of their losses from last week after Biden’s announcement.

Biden said on Sunday that he was opting out and endorsed vice president Kamala Harris’s candidature.

Stocks of Alphabet, Microsoft, Apple and Tesla rose between 1 per cent and 4.2 per cent.

Verizon Communications tumbled 6.1 per cent after second quarter revenue fell short of estimates.

Nvidia stock climbed 2.8 per cent after Reuters reported the AI chip leader was working on a version of its new flagship AI chips for the China market that would be compliant with current US export controls.

Trump-linked stocks were mixed, with Trump Media & Technology Group falling 0.2 per cent, while software firm Phunware rising 0.6 per cent.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.22 per cent from 4.24 per cent late on Friday. The 2-year yield remained at 4.52 per cent.

Crude oil

Oil prices fell on Monday after Biden’s announcement.

Brent crude futures fell 68 cents, or 0.82 per cent, to $81.95 a barrel by 1327 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 69 cents at $79.44.