US stock futures advance amid rebound in technology shares

US stock futures rose after unbridled investor demand for technology and health-care stocks sent benchmark indexes to some of the strongest gains of the year.

S&P 500 futures for December climbed 1% at 3:02 p.m. in Tokyo, while Nasdaq 100 contracts gained 1.7%. The underlying S&P 500 advanced more than 2% on Wednesday and the Nasdaq 100 surged more than 4% in its best rally since April, with the session dominated by groups whose relative immunity from the economic cycle have made them defensive havens all year.

Index futures also rose after Joe Biden won Michigan and Wisconsin, putting him on the brink of taking the White House from President Donald Trump. A narrow victory by either, coupled with a split legislature, will make it unlikely that Trump’s 2017 corporate tax cuts — an important driver to stock gains — are rolled back, as Biden has pledged to do.

“If the Republicans keep the Senate, there will be no tax rises, there will be no nasty regulatory reform, there will be no big left agenda,” said Hamish Douglass, chairman and chief investment officer of Magellan Financial Group Ltd. “And if Biden gets in, I suspect we’re going to have a more moderate discussion globally. We’re going to have a more normal dialogue about foreign policy and global institutions, and markets will like to hear that.”

Besides the American presidential election, traders have plenty else to contend with this week. Federal Reserve officials conclude a two-day meeting Thursday, and though the tight election puts pressure on them to deploy even more monetary stimulus to support the economy, the central bank is not expected to announce a shift in its stance. Then, on Friday, the government’s monthly jobs report is forecast to show private payrolls increased by about 700,000 after an 877,000 gain in September.

“The election uncertainty is more or less cleared so a lot of traders standing on the sidelines for this election hump to clear are all rushing in,” said Margaret Yang, strategist at DailyFX. “Now the focus can return back to fundamentals, stimulus and monetary policy.”