Stocks build on post-election rally as presidential race inches to a finish

Democratic nominee Joe Biden holds a 253 to 214 electoral-vote advantage over President Trump on Thursday, as vote counting continues in Arizona, Alaska, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia and Nevada.

“It seems that Wall Street might get unofficial results fairly soon,” Ed Moya, an analyst with OANDA, said in comments emailed to The Post. “The contest is not over, and President Trump will not go down without a fight, but financial markets are confident to price in a Biden presidency along with a Republican-controlled Senate.”

The Trump campaign said Wednesday that it would launch a legal blitz to try to halt vote-counting in Pennsylvania and Michigan, would seek a recount in Wisconsin and challenged the handling of ballots in Georgia, threatening to draw out a resolution of the White House contest. But investors on Wall Street and overseas seemed unconcerned about the potential for a more prolonged fight,

Asian markets closed up across the board Wednesday, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advancing 3.3 percent and Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbing 1.7 percent. The Shanghai Composite index gained 1.3 percent.

European indexes all advanced in midday trading, led by Germany’s DAX, which gained 1.5 percent.

“ “A new administration in the White House may well dial down tensions with other global superpowers on issues like trade,” Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said Thursday in comments emailed to The Post.

“This certainly seemed to be the thinking in Asia overnight as Japanese and Chinese equities staged substantial rallies.”

As Americans anxiously waited to find out who the next president will be, a greater storm of uncertainty awaits. The U.S. shattered coronavirus records, reporting more than 104,000 new infections in a single day. Meanwhile, 18 states — including Kansas, Tennessee, Virginia, Oklahoma, Montana, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, Nebraska, Minnesota, Indiana, Wisconsin and West Virginia — reported record numbers of hospitalizations due to the virus that has killed at least 233,000 Americans since February, according to data tracked by The Post.

Investor anxieties were reflected in the plunge in the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note, which was hovering near its highest point since June earlier this week. Bond yields move inversely to prices.

Gold, another safe-haven in times of turbulence, was trading up 1.3 percent.