Stocks head for strong weekly close following vaccine, election news

Stock markets on Friday opened higher, heading toward significant gains for the week after Democrat Joe Biden won the presidency and Pfizer announced successful test results on its coronavirus vaccine. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened up 200 points, or 0.7 percent, and the S&P 500 rose 25 points, or 0.7 percent.

A positive Friday close would conclude a strong week for markets, which reacted positively to the likelihood that Biden will be president and Republicans will hold the Senate majority, with Democrats holding the House majority.

Stocks have typically performed best under divided government.

Two runoff races in Georgia in January will determine the Senate majority. Democrats would have to win both races to win the majority.

Pfizer’s news that its coronavirus vaccine was proving 90 percent effective in recent trials also put a timeline for effectively ending the pandemic in sight.

Stocks did retreat on Thursday as markets weighed the economic costs of rising COVID-19 cases.

New cases have topped 100,000 daily for over a week, with deaths topping 1,000 per day.

The rising cases and deaths make new restrictions likely, which could hamper economic growth.