US open: Stocks push higher despite election uncertainty

US stocks were putting in decent gains on Tuesday morning despite the potential for significant market volatility as the public heads to polls to pick their candidate to become the country's 47th president.

The Dow was up 0.6%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.8% and the Nasdaq jumped 1.0%.

Investors' eyes were firmly fixed on Washington DC, with Americans set to pick between former president Donald Trump and current vice president Kamala Harris in the race for the White House.

"As has been made abundantly clear, the polls are so close that it’s impossible to say that one candidate has an advantage," said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.

"Trump may have built up some positive momentum last week, but there was also evidence of a Harris rebound over the weekend. But just about every poll result has shown that the difference between the two candidates remains within the accepted margin of error. Perhaps the exit polls may offer more of a guide later tonight."

The yield on a 10-year US Treasury was up 6.7 basis points at 4.356%, rebounding after dropping more than 10bp on Monday, while the US dollar index fell 0.2% to 103.69 – its lowest in more than two weeks.

In economic news, the US trade deficit rose to its highest in 30 months in September as expected, jumping 19.2% to $84.4bn as businesses rushed to import goods before a planned – albeit later suspended – port strike in early October.

"We expect imports to outpace exports in the short term, as investment in data centres and semiconductors supports capital goods imports and a strong consumer pushes retailers to build out inventories," said Matthew Martin from Oxford Economics. "The outcome of the election could add upside risk to imports if businesses seek to pre-empt potential tariff increases in the event of a second Donald Trump presidency."

In other news, the S&P Global services PMI slipped to 55.0 in October, from 55.3 in September, slightly under analysts' forecast for no change; while the ISM services PMI unexpectedly increased to 56.0 from 54.9, ahead of the 53.8 estimate.

Market movers

Truth Social owner Trump Media & Technology Group surged 17% ahead of the elections, though the stock was likely only staging a rebound after heavy falls last week.

Shares in software group Palantir Technologies soared 22% after the company beat forecasts comfortably with its third-quarter results, helped by a 40% jump in US government revenues.

Casino and hotels operator Wynn Resorts slumped 7% after missing estimates with its third-quarter revenues and profits.