Renewable energy, pot stocks top losers as election results leave Wall Street hanging

[November 04, 2020]  By Susan Mathew

(Reuters) - Renewable energy and cannabis-related stocks, tipped to gain under a Joe Biden administration, were among the hardest hit on Wall Street on Wednesday, as traders adjusted to overnight results that left the presidential election hanging in the balance.

Tech stocks were the initial big winners as President Donald Trump won the key states of Florida and Ohio and confounded earlier poll readings in others, quelling the expectations of some market participants of a swift Biden victory.

Following are major movers as traders and investors in New York's main stock indexes digested the results. Overall, futures for the Nasdaq 100 <NQcv1>, Dow <1YMcv1> and S&P 500 <EScv1> were trading in positive territory after swinging sharply overnight.

ENERGY

Traditional energy companies, which could enjoy a lighter regulatory and tax environment under a second term for Trump, rose, with the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF <XOP.P> up 2.3%.

Chevron <CVX.N> gained 0.6%, while shares in Exxon <XOM.N> rose 1.8%

Stocks of solar energy-based firms, which had soared in anticipation of Biden and the Democrats faring well, fell. The Invesco Solar ETF <TAN.P> dropped 3% after climbing more than 40% since September lows.

Another instrument representing the developing sector, the iShares Global Clean Energy ETF <ICLN.O>, fell 2%.

MARIJUANA

Major cannabis producers surged after the vice presidential debate, when vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris said marijuana would be decriminalized at the federal level under a Biden administration.

The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF <MJ> slipped 1.9%, putting it on track for its worst day in nearly two months.

The facade of the New York Stock Exchange is pictured in Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., October 26, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Segar

Shares of cannabis producers Tilray <TLRY.O>, U.S. listings of Canada's Canopy Growth <CGC.N>, Cronos <CRON.O> and Aurora Cannabis <ACB.N>, dropped between 3% and 6.3%.

TECHNOLOGY

Big tech companies, which have benefited from Trump's softer stance on regulation and anti-trust policies as well as a tax cut that targeted U.S. big business, rose, with the Invesco QQQ ETF <QQQ.O> and Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund <XLK.P> both up 2.3%.

Microsoft <MSFT.O>, Intel <INTC.O> and IBM <IBM.N> rose between 0.4% and 2.2%, while the FAANG stocks Facebook <FB.O>, Apple <AAPL.O>, Amazon <AMZN.O>, Netflix <NFLX.O> and Google <GOOGL.O> gained around 2.3% each.

PRIVATE PRISON OPERATORS

Geo Group <GEO.N> and CoreCivic Inc <CXW.N> jumped 1.9% and 6.5%, respectively, before the bell.

They had been pressured in recent months as Biden, who has committed to ending the federal government's use of private prisons, took a sizeable lead in the polls.

(Reporting by Susan Mathew in Bengaluru; Editing by Patrick Graham and Bernard Orr)

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