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All stock market records were set on Wednesday

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Stock prices rose across the board on Wednesday as Wall Street reacted positively to Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election, setting numerous key milestones as stocks already traded near record levels.

Important facts

All three major US indices jumped to their respective records on Wednesday: The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up by up to 3.5%, or almost 1,500 points, to a new intraday high of 43,711, and the benchmark S&P 500 index rose by 2.3 % to over 5,900 and The technology-focused Nasdaq rose 2.7% to a record 18,954.

That's the Dow's biggest point gain since April 2020 and percentage gain since November 2022, the S&P's steepest percentage gain since November 2022 and the Nasdaq since August, while the Russell 2000 tracks 2,000 smaller companies with an average market cap of $1 Billion dollars had their best day since November 2023, rallying 5%.

Ten of the S&P's 13 sectors rose, while financials (6%), energy (4%) and industrials (4%) were the biggest gainers, reflecting the conventional wisdom that Trump's promise of less regulation would give industries a boost.

Notable stocks that hit all-time highs included Goldman Sachs and Nvidia, and prominent names like Bank of America and Tesla reached their highest stock prices in more than a year (see below for a more complete list).

And Tesla, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase were the biggest percentage gainers among S&P companies valued at $100 billion or more, with shares of each company rising at least 11%.

Individual inventory records

The following companies reached their highest share prices in at least 12 months on Wednesday, with all-time highs marked in bold: Amazon, American Express, Apollo Global ManagementBank of America, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Carnival, caterpillarCisco, Citigroup, Delta Air Lines, General Motors, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan ChaseKroger, Morgan Stanley, Nvidia, oracle, PalantirTesla, visa, Walmart And Wells Fargo.

Who became the richest on Wednesday?

Forbes' real-time billionaire tracker ranks the following five people among the biggest wealth gainers from the stock market boom: Tesla CEO Elon Musk ($21 billion profit), Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison ($11 billion), Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett (7 billion), Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (6 billion US dollars) and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (5 billion US dollars).

Crucial quote

Tailwinds for U.S. stock indexes after the election include: “Expectations for stronger domestic growth have increased.” [mergers and acquisitions] Activity, an expansion of tax cuts for private individuals and hopes for lower corporate taxes,” said UBS strategists led by Solita Marcelli in a note to clients. “The prospect of a clear election outcome could also be a catalyst,” Marcelli added.

tangent

Other notable developments in financial markets surrounding the election included Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, hitting its highest price ever as investors reacted positively to results that favored the perceived more cryptocurrency-friendly Trump, and the Dollar posted its biggest daily jump since 2016 Foreign currencies slumped on trade concerns and 10-year U.S. Treasury yields rose to a four-month high as investors shifted to riskier assets and expressed some concerns about persistent inflation.

Further reading

ForbesHere's why Trump's victory catapulted dollar and bond yields to multi-month highsFrom Derek Saul
ForbesTesla shares rise 12% to record levels in premarket trading as Trump wins electionFrom Ty Roush

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