Best election-week gain in decades | Waiting on vote count | Buffett's $9 billion record buyback
| EDITOR'S NOTE
A repeat of this week's strong performance will be tougher to come by as uncertainty over the U.S. election and the coronavirus pandemic loom large over Wall Street.
The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite all posted their biggest weekly gains since the week ending April 9. For the S&P 500, it was also the best election week since 1932.
Some investors attributed the sharp rally to the increasing prospects of a split government in which Democrats control the presidency and the House while Republicans maintain a Senate majority.
However, CNBC's Patti Domm writes that, even if a presidential winner is declared, close votes and lawsuits will likely end in recounts. Meanwhile, the Senate is not entirely in the bag for the GOP, with runoff elections needed for both of Georgia's seats in the upper chamber.
"I think the uncertainty is going to catch up the market on a short-term basis," said Leo Grohowski, BNY Mellon's Wealth Management chief investment officer. "Perhaps next week could be a drifting lower kind of week."
Traders are also monitoring an ever-rising number of coronavirus cases. On Thursday alone, more than 122,000 new infections were confirmed in the U.S. This has raised concern among economists over potential lockdown measures being reinstated to curb the spread of the virus.
On the earnings front, McDonald's, Disney and Applied Materials are among the companies slated to report next week.
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MICHAEL SANTOLI'S MARKET COLUMN
THE WEEK AHEAD
YOUR WEEKEND BRIEFING
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