Republicans clinched majorities in both the House and the Senate Tuesday, and on Wednesday Wall Street responded in turn.
Anticipating business-friendly legislation, investors drove both the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 to close at record highs, reports USA Today. The Dow closed 101 points above the opening and set a new high at 17,484.53. The S&P also closed at an all-time high of 2023.56, 11.46 points above yesterday’s average. Both markets saw a net 0.6 percent boost overnight. (RELATED: Republicans Win Control Of US Senate)
Traditionally, markets respond extremely well to Republican control of Congress. U.S. equity strategist Sam Stovall noted, “the combination of a Democratic president and a unified Republican Congress has been accompanied by the best average performance for the S&P 500 since 1945.”
Bucking the trend of the “GOP Rally,” the Nasdaq composite index fell 0.1 percent and closed at 4620.72.
Call it the “GOP rally:” The Dow surged 101 points to a new record. The S&P 500 also closed at an all-time high. http://t.co/JL1Y5syX6q
— CNNMoney (@CNNMoney) November 5, 2014
Oil prices also rose $1.50 per barrel, ending a 5-day slide.