U.S. stock futures surge as Republican Donald Trump is projected to win the U.S. presidential election

Major U.S. stock indexes are poised to open sharply higher Wednesday as Republican Donald Trump has been projected to win the U.S. presidential election.

Major U.S. stock indexes are set to open sharply higher Wednesday as Republican Donald Trump has been projected to win the U.S. presidential election.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average are up 3.1%, while those linked to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are up 2.2% and 1.7%, respectively, about 45 minutes before the opening bell. The indexes, which gained on Tuesday ahead of the results, are on track to hit record highs today after the surprisingly decisive victory for the former President over his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Tesla (TSLA) is among the big gainers in premarket trading Wednesday, with shares rising 12%. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been a vocal supporter of Trump and campaigned alongside the former President in recent weeks. Shares of Trump Media (DJT), the parent of the Truth Social platform, are up nearly 30% this morning.

Shares of companies tied to cryptocurrency are also surging after bitcoin rose to record highs above $75,000 amid optimism that the asset class will get a boost from a Trump presidency. MicroStrategy (MSTR), one of the world's biggest holders of bitcoin, cyrpto exchange Coinbase (COIN) and bitcoin miner Marathon Digital (MARA) are all up more than 8%.

Banking stocks are also up across the board amid expectations that a Trump presidency could lead to regulatory changes and more deal-making. Bank of America (BAC), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), Citigroup (C), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) are all up more than 7%.

AI investor favorite Nvidia (NVDA) and Alphabet (GOOGL) are up 1% and 2%, respectively, while Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META) slid nearly 1%.

Among other noteworthy movers Wednesday morning, shares of CVS Health (CVS) are up 12% after the pharmacy and insurance company released its earnings report. Super Micro Computer (SMCI) shares fell nearly 20% after the struggling server maker provided preliminary results that missed expectations and said it’s unable to predict when it will file its delayed annual report. 

Treasury yields, which have been rising in recent weeks as investors have scaled back their expectations for how aggressive the Federal Reserve will be in cutting interest rates, are at 4.40%, up from 4.29% on Tuesday but down from a high of 4.48% this morning. The Fed, which cut rates in September for the first time in four years, is expected to trim its benchmark lending rate by a quarter percentage point at the end of its policy meeting Thursday.

Gold futures are down 3% to around $2,670 an ounce, while crude oil futures also fell about 3%.