Wall Street opened higher Wednesday as the Democrats won the House of Representatives, but Republicans kept control of the Senate during the midterm elections.
The S&P 500 rose 31 points, or 1.14%, to 2,786.88 as of 9:38 AM ET (14:38 GMT), while the Dow increased 208 points, or 0.81%, to 25,843.70 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 87 points, or 1.18% to 7,463.15.
Investor confidence was boosted after the midterm elections, as a gridlock in Congress has been known to bring strong returns in equity markets.
The results were in line with forecasts and seen as a referendum on U.S. President Donald Trump’s term.
Despite the split, Trump tweeted that the elections were a “tremendous success.” He is expected to make a statement on the midterm results at 11:30 AM ET (16:30 GMT).
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve begins its two-day policy meeting. While no rate hike is expected, traders expect the Fed to raise rates in December.
Target (NYSE:TGT) was among the top gainers after the morning bell, rising 2.22%, while Twilio (NYSE:TWLO) jumped 18.57% after its earnings came in higher than expected. Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) rose 2.74% and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) gained 0.66%.
Elsewhere, Zillow (NASDAQ:ZG) slumped 22.53% after the company warned that current quarter revenue would fall short of expectations. Michael Kors (NYSE:KORS) fell 16.57% after its fiscal second-quarter revenue missed estimates, although its profit was higher than expected.
In commodities, Gold futures increased 0.49% to $1,229.40 a troy ounce, while crude oil futures rose 0.72% to $62.66 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.42% to 95.71.
