Dow posts biggest gain of the year after Democrats sweep Congress

The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared nearly 1,600 points, or 3%, on Wednesday, its biggest gain of the year, as investors digested the impact of the Democrats' sweeping victories in the midterm congressional elections.Other indexes also jumped, with the broader S&P 500 climbing 120 points, or 1.6%, to close at 7,689 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gaining 1.4%."Investors are happy to have the midterms out of the way," market analyst Adam Crisafulli, head of Vital Knowledge, told investors in a report. "This was a major source of uncertainty, and putting it in the rear-view mirror removes a key obstacle heading into a very favorable time of year seasonally."The shifting political winds could affect a range of issues that influence investment returns, from the pace of the data center buildout and cryptocurrency industry regulation to proposals to cap credit card interest rates.

At the same time, Wall Street analysts do not expect the outcome to derail a stock market being driven more by robust corporate profits and solid economic growth than by politics. "The magnitude of the gains for the Democrats in the midterms does not change too much for the near-term policy outlook, given the party still lacks a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and President Trump has veto power to block legislation," Stephen Brown of Capital Economics said