Former New York Stock Exchange chairman and CEO Dick Grasso shares his insights on 2020 Democrat candidates and the chance of a brokered convention for the party.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, who just days ago was left for political roadkill, is bouncing back on Super Tuesday and giving stock futures a boost.
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Biden is projected to win the Oklahoma, Virginia, North Carolina and Alabama Democratic presidential primaries, Fox News projects, with polls in the coast-to-coast set of contests starting to close.
Dow futures tacked on over 200 points with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rising in tandem as of 8:30 PM ET. The gains follow another volatile and down session for equities which clipped 785 points off the Dow or 3 percent, which mirrored the percentage losses for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq after an emergency rate cut by the Federal Reserve failed to calm investor fears over the spreading coronavirus.
EMERGENCY RATE BY FED AIMED AT CALMING CORONAVIRUS FEARS
Biden’s rebound now overshadows Sander’s momentum which had put the candidate with socialist policies on the path to the White House, in turn, spooking Wall Street.
“We believe there are potentially far-reaching impacts for healthcare, technology and financials if risk premiums need to be reset for a higher probability of Sanders leading the party” said Paul Christopher, head of global market strategy, at Wells Fargo Investment Institute in a note released after Sanders’ Nevada and Iowa caucus wins.
Sanders did capture his home state of Vermont and Colorado.
While Super Tuesday results are still rolling in the final outcome is expected to narrow the 2020 field which will provide a clearer picture for investors and should remove a layer of uncertainty that has been contributing to the recent equity selloff primarily driven by fears over the coronavirus.
US CORNAVIRUS DEATH TOLL RISING
The Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index, the broadest measure of U.S. equities, has lost $4.2 trillion since the February 19 market high, as tracked by Dow Jones Market Data Group.
Year-to-date the Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 9 percent, the S&P 500 7 percent and Nasdaq 3 percent.
By comparison, the 10-Year Treasury yield fell below 1 percent for the first time in history on Tuesday as investors sought out the safer assets.
