(RTTNews) - US stocks were poised for a post-Election Day hangover on Wednesday after Barack Obama was chosen as the nation’s 44th president and Democrats tightened their grip on Congress.

As of 6:15 am ET, the S&P Futures were down 19 points, the Dow Futures were down 150 points, and the Nasdaq Futures were down 24 points.

Obama is the first African-American to win the nation’s highest office, and cruised to a landslide electoral victory after a grueling campaign. Obama won Ohio, Virginia, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado and Florida - all states that went for George Bush in the last presidential contest.

The president-elect now faces the difficult task of selecting his advisers and cabinet members amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Despite excessive speculation and a landslide electoral victory for the party’s presidential nominee, the Democratic Party was unable to achieve its goal of a 60-seat majority in the U.S. senate.

However, the Democrats extend their control of the legislative body, picking up seats in some surprising states.

Wall Street stocks advanced on Election Day, but are set to give back a large portion of those gains on Wednesday as market players face the stark reality of an US economy on the verge of deep, prolonged recession.

Recent economic data has been dismal, and the parade of troubling figures will likely continue through Friday, when traders will be confronted with the pivotal monthly jobs report.

Some key economic data is due to be released on Wednesday, with the ISM due to release its report on activity in the service sector in the month of October. Economists expect the index of activity in the sector to slip to 47.0, indicating a contraction.

In corporate news Wednesday, steel giant ArcelorMittal (MT) reported a 29% rise in third-quarter profit, with sales growing 38%. The company also said that its Board has recommended to maintain base dividend at $1.50 for 2009.

BNP Paribas (BNP.L) reported that third-quarter net income group share fell 55.6% to 901 million euros from 2.03 billion euros a year earlier.

Asian stocks advanced on Wednesday, as the Hang Seng of Hong Kong rose 3.2 percent and Tokyo’s Nikkei picked up 4.5 percent.

In European intraday dealing, the FTSE of the UK was down 2.4 percent, the DAX of Germany was down 2 percent, and the CAC of France was down 2.5 percent.

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Posted in Categories: Economy, Eurozone, Japan, Releases, UK, USA.

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