The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record Wednesday as the U.S. Capitol was locked down after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed past barricades.
Vice President Mike Pence was escorted off the Senate floor during the count of the Electoral College votes certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s win.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a curfew in the district from 6 p.m. till 6 a.m. Thursday.
The Associated Press reported that the D.C. National Guard was being activated for tasks possibly including helping enforce the curfew.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi issued a joint statement calling on Trump to “demand that all protestors leave the U.S. Capitol and Capitol Grounds immediately,” AP reported.
Several Republican lawmakers called upon Trump to call for an end to the violence, NBC reported.
“Mr. President @realDonaldTrump the men & women of law enforcement are under assault. It is crucial you help restore order by sending resources to assist the police and ask those doing this to stand down,” tweeted Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
Trump had earlier called on his supporters to “remain peaceful,” but he did not urge them to disperse, AP reported.
The Dow closed up 437 points, or 1.44%, to 30,829 and the S&P 500 gained 0.57% to 3,748.
Both the Dow and S&P 500 reached record intraday highs.
The Nasdaq finished down 0.61% to 12,740 after falling sharply earlier in the session on concern that big technology companies could face tougher antitrust scrutiny under a Democratic-Party-controlled Congress.
Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, beat Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler in Georgia, winning one of two Senate runoffs in the state.
And the AP has called the other Georgia runoff race for Democrat Jon Ossoff against Republican Sen. David Perdue.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note hit 1% for the first time since March.
The elections in Georgia have given the Democrats control of Congress and enabled them to push the legislative agenda of President-elect Joe Biden.
The Democrats in the Senate are on even footing with Republicans, enabling Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to cast the deciding vote in any 50-50 tie.
Analysts say a swing to the Democrats could lead to greater fiscal stimulus and higher taxes. Just one Republican win in Georgia would have given the GOP enough votes to block Biden from pursuing his more ambitious policies on trade, energy and security.
“Stock markets have been moving higher for the past few months, and it is more likely that we see a sector rotation within the market rather than a sustained selloff in the result that the Democrats take full control of government,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance.
Federal Reserve officials, in the minutes of its meeting from December, unanimously backed keeping the central bank’s pace of bond buying steady.
“All participants judged that it would be appropriate to…
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