The US stock market during this election week made an impressive rally, with all major stock indexes gaining more than 6%. The stock market hates uncertainty, but the prolonged time to announce a clear winner for this presidential election was ignored by the investors. Has the stock market discounted a shift in the presidency looking forward?

The economic calendar showed that the jobs report was better than expected and that the economic recovery is still on track, but its pace is not yet stable. If there is a legal battle to ensure the outcome of the presidential election, valid or not, it could provide some sort of stock market volatility.

Economic News

The Federal Reserve's latest interest-rate decision was no surprise at all.  The central bank left its policy rate near zero and once again reiterated its commitment to keeping rates lower for an extended period to support the economy in 2020, 2021, and beyond. Loose monetary settings support stocks and concerns about stock market valuation are more than justified.

The Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) was a slight beat coming in at 53.4, better than the 53.3 forecast, and the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Manufacturing Index was also better than expected showing improved business conditions in the manufacturing sector. The reading for the latter was 59.3, compared to the forecast of 55.8. The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index released by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) which shows business conditions in the US non-manufacturing sector was strong coming in at 56.6 but slightly below the forecast of 57.5.

The nonfarm payrolls released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed a figure of 638K, better than the 600K prediction. The US unemployment fell to 6.9% beating the estimate of 7.7%. A sustained improvement of the labor market over the following months is essential for rapid economic growth.

For the week of November 2– November 6, 2020, the major US stock market indexes closed as follows on Friday, November 6, 2020:

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: Close 28323.40, +6.87% for the week, -0.75% Year-to-date

• S&P 500 Index: Close 3509.44, +7.32% for the week, +8.63% Year-to-date

• Nasdaq Composite: Close 11895.23 , +9.01% for the week, +32.57%, Year-to-date

• Russell 2000: Close 1644.16, +6.87% for the week, +2.83% Year-to-date

Weekly Stocks Gainers

These are the top 2 gainers (strictly in terms of percentage), stocks with 5 days of consecutive price advances:

1.  Upwork Inc (NASDAQ:UPWK), Close 29.26, 5-day change +58.59%

2. Farfetch Ltd Cl A (NYSE:FTCH), Close 42.48, 5-day change +51.01%

Weekly Stocks Losers

These are the top 3 losers, stocks with 5 days of consecutive price declines:

1. Kbl Merger Corp IV (NASDAQ:KBLM), Close 4.99, 5-day change -54.43%

2.  Equillium Inc (NASDAQ:EQ), Close 4.45, 5-day change -29.92%

3. Bellicum Pharma Comm (NASDAQ:BLCM), Close 2.80, 5-day change -24.53%

Economic events for the week November 9- November 13, 2020:

Important economic data for the week will the US Retail Sales, the Industrial Production, the Building Permits and Housing Starts, the weekly Jobless Claims, the Existing Home Sales, and the Philadelphia Fed Survey.