US pre-open: Stocks set for firmer start as FBI clears Clinton

US futures pointed to a positive open on Wall Street amid relief that the FBI will not bring any charges against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

At 1100 GMT, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 1.3%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were up 1.4% and 1.6%, respectively.

Meanwhile, oil prices pushed higher, with West Texas Intermediate up 1.5% to $44.72 a barrel and Brent crude 1.1% firmer at $46.10.

Having rallied last week as polls suggested Trump was in the lead, gold retreated on Monday as it lost its safe-haven appeal. The yellow metal traded down 1.5% to $1,285.40 an ounce.

The FBI said over the weekend that a fresh inquiry into Clinton’s communications found nothing to change the conclusion it had come to over the summer and that there had been no evidence of criminal wrongdoing after she used a private email server for government work.

Remo Fritschi, institutional sales manager at ADS Securities London, said: “News over the weekend that the FBI was no longer pursuing Hilary Clinton over the use of a private email server has pushed the Democratic candidate ahead in the bitterly fought race for the White House and financial markets are seemingly already celebrating the win.

“Whilst neither party could necessarily be deemed as being bad for equities at least in the short term, a Clinton win would bring about a greater degree of certainty as to what the future holds – and this is a quality markets are always willing to applaud. As a result we’re looking at some significant gains at the opening bell and with little in the way of economic data due for release over the next few hours, it would seem that short of some shock opinion poll or more bad news for the Clinton camp, derailing this run of positive sentiment would be something of a challenge.”

In a note released at the end of last week, Societe Generale said it expects to see a relief rebound in equity markets in the event of a Clinton win, with the S&P 500 likely to trade back to 2,150-2,200. In the medium term, it would expect the S&P 500 to hit a new all-time high but peak in 2017/18.

Longer-term, it recommended buying US infrastructure-linked stocks, defence shares and global oil and gas stocks if Clinton wins.

In the event of a Trump win, it expects an initial market selloff, which would in turn trigger a more dovish stance from the Federal Reserve, with the S&P 500’s first support at 1,950.

On the corporate front, results are due before the open from Sotheby’s, LendingClub and Dean Foods.