NEW YORK: Technology stocks pushed Wall Street indexes sharply higher on Wednesday as an early vote count pointed to a close race for the White House, although investors remained worried about the prospect of a contested result.

Both President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden still have possible paths to reach the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win as states keep counting mail-in ballots.

The NYSE FANG+TM Index, which includes the core FAANG stocks, jumped 3.6%.

The CBOE volatility index, a gauge for short-term volatility, slipped to a two-week low after spiking to a four-month high in the run-up to the election.

Still, the prospect of political uncertainty sent investors to US Treasuries, sparking the biggest one-day drop in 10- and 30-year bond yields since June. Shares of US banks, which typically track Treasury yields, slipped 2%.

At 11:34 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 619.01 points, or 2.25%, at 28,099.04, the S&P 500 was up 95.92 points, or 2.85%, at 3,465.08, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 435.13 points, or 3.90%, at 11,595.70.—Reuters