US Markets Close Higher Despite Rancorous Debate

US stocks closed higher on Wednesday as investors weighed a rising number of Covid-19 cases and a chaotic US presidential debate against better-than-expected US private jobs data on the last day of a turbulent quarter.

Republican President Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden battled over Trump's record on the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare and the economy in a rancorous first debate on Tuesday night marked by personal insults and Trump's repeated interruptions of Biden.

"The only point worth mentioning is that the debate may have increased expectations for a contested election result," said UBS chief economist Paul Donovan. "Given the importance of international investors to U.S. markets, this may add volatility around the election."

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2 percent to 27,781, the S&P 500 gained 0.8 percent to 3,363 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.7 percent to 11,167.

Better-than-expected gains in ADP's survey of private payrolls helped push US equities higher.

"The election is not the primary driver of markets right now - the level of economic reopening is," said David Bahnsen, chief investment officer at the Bahnsen Group.

Oil dropped approximately 10 percent for the month, while gold's 4.1 percent drop was its worst month since late 2016.

As the November 3 US election draws closer, investors are increasingly expecting a bumpy final lap and are bracing for the possibility that the result will be unclear on Election Day.

In the closing stages of Tuesday night's debate, Biden said he would accept defeat if he lost at the ballot box and would not claim victory prematurely.

Trump, who has refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election, repeated unfounded allegations that mail-in voting would lead to fraud.

"I don't think we were expecting anything else from Trump," said Chris Weston, head of research at Melbourne brokerage Pepperstone. "He continues to put that contested (result) risk premium back into the market." (Reuters)