Joe Biden on a screen in the Times Square area of New York.
Photographer: Michael Nagle / Bloomberg
Photographer: Michael Nagle / Bloomberg
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Markets like Joe Biden’s turn as America’s president.
The S&P 500 index on Wednesday posted its best response on the first day of a presidential inauguration since at least 1937, with a 1.4% increase in the outlook of about $ 2 billion in stimulus spending. Global equities have meanwhile hit fresh overall highlights.
Biden’s formal move to the White House has boosted investors’ confidence in companies associated with its policies, while losing those who do not meet its priorities. Shares linked to clean energy rose, continuing with the gains they have made since Biden’s election. Defense equipment manufacturers and prison operators – sectors that performed well under Donald Trump – have declined.
Here are the moving markets as Biden takes office.
Renewable in favor
Some clean energy stocks in South Korea and Japan rose on Thursday when Biden signed comprehensive actions to combat climate change only a few hours after taking office. He is bringing the US back into the Paris climate agreement and has imposed a moratorium on oil leasing in some parts of the North Pole.
South Korea’s OCI Co., a manufacturer of solar power equipment, has risen to 9% and that of Japan West Holdings Corp., which builds solar power generation systems, scored 4.5%.
In Europe, supplies of renewable energy, including wind power, Vestas Wind Systems A / S en Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA outperformed the Stoxx 600 Energy Index and both rose by at least 2%.
Elsewhere, equities exposed to building construction to make it more energy efficient rose higher and outperformed the sub-index for construction, led by insulation makers Kingspan Group Plc en Rockwool International A / S with the Dutch LED lighting company Sign NV.
Prisons slammed
Shares of U.S. private jail operators, which have long been a target for Democrats, tumbled. CoreCivic Inc. it decreased by 7.8% and Geo Group Inc. fell 4.1% on Wednesday. Shares of both companies have fallen the most since December 22nd.
Defense drops
Asian defense stocks have fallen with the expectation that Biden’s less confrontational policies would dampen global geopolitical risks and the need to increase spending on the sector. Japanese gun manufacturer Howa Machinery Ltd. fell by 7.8% while the Australian defense shipbuilder Austal Ltd., which gets about 77% of its revenue from the US, fell by 2.7%.
– With the help of Sam Unsted and Beth Mellor
(Add details on European stocks moving in 7th and 8th paragraphs)