NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks surged on Wednesday, a day after the Democrats seized control of Congress in sweeping midterm elections that saw Republican supremos fall like dominoes. America's distaste for the Iran war came to the fore, with many officials, including Vice President JD Vance, citing it and the war's consequences as the main reason for the wipeout.

"There's just going to be even more pressure to end the war," Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at One Point BFG Wealth Partners told CNBC Wednesday. "The American people have obviously expressed their displeasure with inflation and the price of gasoline, amongst other things, and maybe this just pushes for an end to it. We'll have to see."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 1,569.40 points to 53,356.12, a gain of 3.03 percent.

The Standard and Poor's 500 rose 119.70 points to 7,688.62, up 1.58 percent on volume of 4.541 billion, while the NASDAQ Composite added 364.50 points to 25,736.51, an increase of 1.44 percent.

The NYSE Composite Index climbed 380.27 points to 24,687.31, up 1.56 percent, and the Russell 2000 Index gained 44.52 points to 2,856.97, also up 1.58 percent.

In a striking sign of easing market anxiety, the CBOE Volatility Index plunged 4.14 points to 16.69, a drop of 19.84 percent.

U.S. Dollar Retreats Against Major Currencies as EUR, GBP and AUD Strengthen

The U.S. dollar was weaker against all the major currencies on Wednesday, according to the latest foreign exchange market quotes, as the euro, British pound and Australian dollar all posted gains.

EUR-USD traded at 1.1221, up 0.25 percent on the day. GBP-USD rose to 1.3466, a gain of 0.38 percent, while AUD-USD climbed to 0.7008, up 0.59 percent — the strongest percentage advance among the majors.

The dollar also slipped against the Swiss franc, with USD-CHF at 0.8175, down 0.40 percent. Against the Canadian dollar, USD-CAD stood at 1.3971, with the greenback 0.28 percent lower.

The lone exception to the dollar's broad decline came against the Japanese yen, where USD-JPY edged up 0.20 to 158.4900, a gain of 0.13 percent for the dollar.

The moves reflect a broadly softer tone for the greenback, with traders noting the dollar's weakness was most pronounced against the Australian dollar and the Swiss franc.

Global Stock Markets Rally as Canadian, UK, European and Asian Indices Post Broad Gains

World stock markets closed mostly higher on the day, with European benchmarks leading a broad advance while several Asian indices slipped, according to the latest closing quotes.

In Canada, the S&P/TSX Composite index jumped 809.12 points to 36,341.40, a gain of 2.28 percent on volume of 401.382 million.

In London, the FTSE 100 rose 190.78 points to 10,829.21, a gain of 1.79 percent.

Germany's DAX P climbed 573.05 points to 26,437.67, up 2.22 percent. France's CAC 40 added 157.58 points to close at 8,177.89, an increase of 1.96 percent, while the EURO STOXX 50 I gained 121.15 points to 6,265.71, up 1.97 percent. The Euronext 100 Index advanced 25.96 points to 1,896.79, a rise of 1.39 percent, and Belgium's BEL 20 jumped 141.49 points to 5,979.01, up 2.42 percent.

In Asia, the HANG SENG INDEX gained 393.53 points to 23,919.50, up 1.67 percent. The S&P BSE SENSEX rose 383.55 points to 77,301.40, a gain of 0.50 percent, and the IDX COMPOSITE added 15.48 points to 4,919.77, up 0.32 percent. The KOSPI Composite Index climbed 35.01 points to 5,683.80, up 0.62 percent, while the S&P/NZX 50 INDEX GROSS advanced 63.19 points to 13,783.45, a rise of 0.46 percent. The SSE Composite Index gained 78.07 points to 3,686.17, up 2.16 percent, and the EGX 30 Price Return Index surged 1,394.50 points to 50,650.20, up 2.83 percent.

Several markets moved lower. The STI Index slipped 0.66 points to 5,268.63, down 0.01 percent. The S&P/ASX 200 fell 52.30 points to 8,834.50, a decline of 0.59 percent, and the ALL ORDINARIES dropped 54.00 points to 8,954.90, down 0.60 percent. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI lost 5.29 points to 1,616.56, down 0.33 percent. The TSEC CAPITALIZATION WEIGHTED ST fell 358.63 points to 42,948.91, down 0.83 percent, and the TA-125 declined 73.10 points to 3,849.08, a drop of 1.86 percent. The Top 40 USD Net TRI Index shed 20.42 points to 6,554.71, down 0.31 percent, while the Nikkei 225 fell 893.23 points to 62,188.63, down 1.42 percent.

(This report incorporates quotes retrieved with the assistance of artificial intelligence).

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