Market Snapshot: Dow pushes toward 30,000 as stocks extend rally

• The Dow closed up 327.79 points, or 1.1%, to end at 29,591.27
• The S&P 500 rose 20.05 points, or 0.6%, closing a t 3,577.59.
• Nasdaq Composite advanced 25.66 points, or 0.2%, to finish at 11,880.63.
• The Russell 2000 index finished at an all-time high, rising 1.9% to reach 1,818.30.

What’s driving the market?

Upward momentum for equity markets on Tuesday was being attributed to the Trump administration clearing the way for President-elect Joe Biden’s transition to the White House.

Although investors have been preparing for a Biden presidency, the move eases worries over a bumpy transition even as Trump continues to refuse to concede the race as his efforts to overturn the results of the Nov. 3 election have met a series of legal defeats and setbacks.

“Although, the election results were not a serious threat for the market the removal of a potential chaotic political concern is cheering on investors,” wrote Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities LLC, in a daily note.

Meanwhile, markets drew some optimism from reports late Monday that former Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen is Biden’s pick for Treasury secretary.

Yellen is considered an experienced economist and administrator who helped the markets and the economy navigate the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis. She would be the first woman to serve as U.S. Treasury secretary.

Some analysts see the selection of Yellen as raising the likelihood of further fiscal measures to support the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gains for markets on Monday were mostly fueled by fresh reports on progress toward a vaccine, with the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca saying their coronavirus vaccine candidate was found to have as much as a 90% efficacy rate in preventing infections without serious side effects in a late-stage trial.

News of COVID-19 vaccines has buttressed optimism on Wall Street at a time when coronavirus cases are rising in 45 U.S. states. The global tally for confirmed coronavirus cases climbed to 59.3 million on Tuesday, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University, while the death toll rose to 1.39 million. The U.S. has the highest case tally in the world at 12.4 million and the highest death toll at 257,707, or more than a fifth of the global total.

The U.S. Case-Shiller House Price Index rose at a 6.6% annual pace in September. A reading on consumer confidence is due at 10 a.m. Eastern.

Later in the session, New York Fed President John Williams is set to speak at noon and Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida is slated to speak at 12:45 p.m.

Which companies are in focus?

• J.M. Smucker SJM, +1.97% lifted sales guidance as earnings topped estimates. Shares were off 0.1%.
• Best Buy BBY, -6.35% topped earnings estimates as same-store sales jumped 23%. Shares fell more than 4%, however.
• Tesla‘s stock TSLA, +3.40% continued to rally a day after an analyst raised his target for the electric-vehicle maker’s stock to $1,000.

What are other markets doing?

• In Asian markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.38% rose 0.4%, while the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -0.34% advanced 0.3% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 NIK, +2.50% jumped 2.5%.
• In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Europe index SXXP, +0.69% rose 0.6%, while London’s FTSE 100 UKX, +1.30% advanced 1.3%.
• The yield on the 10-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, 0.871% rose 2 basis points to 0.872%.
• The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.04% was flat.
• Oil futures extended gains, with the global benchmark BRN00, +2.71% trading at its highest since March. Gold was under pressure, with futures GC00, -2.01% down 2% at 1,801.70 an ounce.