By Thomas Franck, CNBC–

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a sharply higher open on Wednesday as early results on Super Tuesday showed former Vice President Joe Biden notching key wins and reassuring investors of his place amid the top candidates in the Democratic pool.

As of 6:20 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a rise of about 500 points at the open. Futures on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 also pointed to solid opening gains. Still, there are several hours until the opening of equity trading in New York and the implied open could change over the course of the morning.

Biden’s success early into Super Tuesday voting appeared to buoy U.S. equity futures as the former vice president notched a flurry of victories in key southern states including Virginia, North Carolina, and Arkansas. So far, NBC News projects Biden’s delegate total at 453, ahead of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ total of 373. To win the nomination, a Democratic candidate must receive support from a majority of pledged delegates — at least 1,991 of the total 3,979 pledged delegates

“Market participants should be comfortable with the rise of Joe Biden,” Tom Block, policy strategist at Fundstrat Global Advisors, said in an email to CNBC. “Markets don’t like uncertainty and Biden is steady Eddie. From healthcare to tax policy Biden is to the left of Trump but more traditional than Sanders.”

Biden’s early dominance in the South also attracted scores of new donors who had previously supported former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who dropped out of the race, and former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who trailed in Tuesday’s night delegate count.

Investors have long applauded Biden for his middle-of-the-road tact in contrast to the more-progressive policies of Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Some, such as Ritholtz Wealth Management CEO Josh Brown, wrote that investors may be as happy to see Biden leading as to see Warren trailing.

Warren, a former law school professor who specialized in bankruptcy law, is not a favorite on Wall Street as she proposes detailed plans to break up big banks and technology companies and raise taxes.

“Stocks will be even more relieved at Warren’s coming concession as they are at Biden’s big showing,” Brown tweeted. “Wall Streeters have always secretly been more afraid of her than anyone else given her domain expertise.”

Downtown Josh Brown

@ReformedBroker

Stocks will be even more relieved at Warren’s coming concession as they are at Biden’s big showing.

Wall Streeters have always secretly been more afraid of her than anyone else given her domain expertise.

Biden’s outperformance also appeared to boost stocks of health-care companies like UnitedHealth, one of the largest health insurers in the United States and whose equity is sometimes viewed as a bellwether during political debates around the industry.

The stock rose more than 4% in extended trading Tuesday night.

“We think the equity market has also been spooked by the decline in expectations that Trump will get reelected in the betting market, as well as Sanders’ early 2020 surge in the betting markets and the polls,” wrote RBC Capital Markets Head of Equity Strategy Lori Calvasina, referring to the market’s turbulence in recent weeks.

Calvasina wrote that if Biden proves he can pose a serious threat to Sanders on Super Tuesday, industries that have come under pressure throughout the Vermont senator’s recent rise (e.g., health care) may see positive moves on Wednesday,

“If Super Tuesday goes well for Biden, the areas with the most negative assessments may experience some relief. We think this is particularly true for Health Care, where performance has had a decent relationship with Biden’s odds in the betting markets for quite some time,” she wrote.

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