Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The major indices are solidly above yesterday's closing levels, feeding off the election results and a sense of relief that there won't be a contested election.

The financial stocks are flying, bolstered by the twin planks of growth optimism and a push for deregulation. Dow components Goldman Sachs (GS 590.95, +63.99, +12.1%) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM 241.21, +19.74, +8.9%) are prime examples of the industry-specific optimism along with consumer finance companies like Discover Financial Services (DFS 179.01, +27.16, +17.9%) and Capital One Financial (COF 188.29, +22.24, +13.4%).

Separately, the utilities sector (-1.0%) is a notable laggard, as is the real estate sector (-2.0%), with market rates rising appreciably following the election. That bump is pushing up financing costs and is creating competition for income-oriented equity plays.