By Liz Moyer
Investing.com -- Democrats taking the White House did not cause a stock market crash as predicted by President Donald Trump. Quite the opposite, in fact.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks soared to record highs on Monday, two days after Joe Biden was projected the winner of the U.S. presidential election and on a day when Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) said its experimental Covid-19 vaccine appeared to be 90% effective in early tests.
Stocks let out a little steam heading into the close. But the prospect of a post-Covid world where human activity could return to a semblance of normal ignited stocks in the travel, entertainment, and leisure sectors while causing a sell-off in shares of companies that benefited from the stay-at-home trend. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite index closed down.
As Biden moved his team into transition mode, Trump has vowed to fight election results in court. That uncertainty did not evidently dampen stock markets on Monday. Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continued to surge, with some locations turning back reopening measures.
Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:
1. Hiring trends in latest economic data
Job growth was stronger than expected in October, with the unemployment rate falling to 6.9%, but some industries are still struggling with bringing employees back to work after business shutdowns.
On Tuesday, the government releases the JOLTs hiring data (job openings and labor turnover) at 10:00 AM ET (1400 GMT). Analysts tracked by Investing.com expect 6.5 million, up slightly from the 6.49 million announced the prior month.
2. Oil prices soar because of supply
American Petroleum Institute is expected to release its weekly oil inventory estimate at around 4:30 PM ET (2030 GMT). Last week’s report indicated a draw of more than 8 million barrels the previous week, something confirmed by the government’s own data on crude stockpiles.
Positive demand trends -- when inventories go down that’s an indication that demand is rising -- and news of the coronavirus vaccine pushed up the price of oil on Monday, likely good news for shares of the oil majors like Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM)and Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) PLC Class A (AS:RDSa). Crude Oil WTI Futures the U.S. benchmark, jumped more than 8%, while Brent Oil Futurescrude, the international standard, rose more than 7%.
3. Fed's Lael Brainard set to speak
The Federal Reserve’s Lael Brainard is scheduled to speak at 5:00 PM ET (2100 GMT) about "Community Reinvestment Act Modernization" at the National Congress of American Indians Annual Convention. A Q&A will follow the virtual event.
Brainard is considered to be a top contender for Treasury Secretary in the Biden administration, according to the Washington Post. She was a senior Treasury Department official in the Obama administration, with broad policy-making experience, particularly during economic crises, the Post said.