US STOCKS-S&P 500 futures climb as Wall St awaits vote count

U.S. stock market futures climbed on Tuesday as Wall Street bet an unusually rancorous U.S. presidential election would be decided without a prolonged process, clearing the way for a deal on fiscal stimulus to help the struggling economy.

S&P emini futures climbed 0.9%, adding to a rally during the official trading session that saw the S&P 500 deliver its strongest one-day gain in almost a month. Democratic candidate Joe Biden's lead over Republican President Donald Trump in national opinion polls has raised expectations of a decisive outcome and a post-election stimulus package that would make good on Biden's promises of infrastructure spending.

Some analysts said the market's strong gains also reflected a rebound from a selloff last week, the biggest weekly percentage decline for the S&P 500 in over seven months. "It seems as though the polls have narrowed, which makes it a little bit more difficult for Biden but the market reacting the way it is now tells me the market thinks we are going to get a resolution fairly quickly," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.

"If for some reason we don't have any kind of a clear picture, if there is an unwillingness to concede on the part of the loser and this ends up having to go to the courts, we are in for some choppy, volatile markets for awhile." On election night 2016, U.S. stock index futures plunged as Trump pulled off an upset victory against Democrat Hillary Clinton. However, the next day marked the start of the so-called "Trump rally" that saw the S&P 500 jump 5% in a month, fueled by promises of massive tax cuts and financial deregulation.

In Tuesday's trading session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.06% to end at 27,480.03 points, while the S&P 500 gained 1.78% to 3,369.02. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.85% to 11,160.57. Gains were broad, with 10 of the 11 major S&P sectors rising, led by financials and industrials, each up more than 2%.

The CBOE Volatility index, Wall Street's fear gauge, touched a one-week low after hitting a 4-1/2 month high last week. Not all stock sectors analysts have identified as likely winners from a Democrat sweep rose, however, with marijuana and renewable energy companies lower.

Democrats are also favored to emerge from 14 hotly contested U.S. Senate races with full control of Congress, although final results from at least five of those contests may not be available for days, or months in some cases. Some view the races in hotly contested swing states as close enough that Trump could piece together the 270 Electoral College votes he needs to stay in the White House another four years.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 8.92 billion shares, compared with the 9.02 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. (Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak in New York; Editing by Sam Holmes)