Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Rise; Donald Trump Wins 2016 Presidential Election

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.41 percent to 18,407.26 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.19 percent to 5,203.32. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.06 percent to 2,140.85.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday morning, healthcare shares gained by 2.38 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. SCMP, and Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. LXRX.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell by 2.27 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included NextEra Energy Inc NEE, down 7 percent, and Sempra Energy SRE, down 5 percent.

Top Headline

Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump has won the 2016 Presidential election in a hotly-contested vote against Hillary Clinton that few saw coming. To the surprise of many, Trump won big from Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania en route to getting the necessary 270 electoral votes.

With his win in the U.S. presidential election, Trump is uniquely positioned to overhaul America’s relationship with Russia. But how Moscow will engage with the president-elect is still far from clear

Equities Trading UP

Corrections Corp Of America CXW shares shot up 53 percent to $21.73. Prison shares are trading significantly higher after the victory of Donald Trump.

Shares of The GEO Group Inc GEO got a boost, shooting up 21 percent to $28.85 following Donald Trump's victory.

Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. SCMP shares were also up, gaining 20 percent to $13.58 after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 results and raised its FY 2016 guidance.

Equities Trading DOWN

AgroFresh Solutions Inc AGFS shares dropped 38 percent to $2.92. AgroFresh posted Q3 earnings of $0.15 per share on revenue of $61.2 million.

Shares of Tenet Healthcare Corp THC were down 23 percent to $15.59. Bank of America downgraded Tenet Healthcare from Buy to Neutral and lowered the price target from $32.00 to $25.00.

Community Health Systems CYH was down, falling around 22 percent to $4.66.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.31 percent to $44.84 while gold traded up 2.31 percent to $1,303.90.

Silver traded up 2.39 percent Wednesday to $18.80, while copper rose 2.98 percent to $2.45.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.13 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 2.04 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 1.68 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.56 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.45 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.66 percent.

Economics

The MBA’s index of mortgage application activity dropped 1.2 percent for the week ended November 4, 2016.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 10-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari is set to speak in Eau Claire, Wi. at 1:30 p.m. ET.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams will speak at the University of San Francisco at 9:00 p.m. ET.