Stocks start election day with a rally
Dow is up nearly 300 points. The S&P 500 climbs back over 1000 as gains from last week continue.
Reporting from New York — Major stock indexes jumped smartly this morning to stage one of their biggest election day rallies in years.
Building on last week's gains, the Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 300 points amid continued improvement in the credit markets and better-than-expected profit at MasterCard Inc.
The presidential election probably had little direct impact on the market, though investors expect shifting economic policies regardless of which candidate claims the White House.
The equity market has shown signs of stabilizing in the past week after last month's nose-dive - a bounce that traders say has been expected but that could prove to be fleeting.
As of 8:30 a.m. Pacific time, the Dow was up 273.75 points, or 2.9%, to 9,593.58.
The Standard & Poor's 500 climbed back above 1,000 by advancing 34.26 points, or 3.6%, to 1000.09. The Nasdaq composite index rose 46.88 points, or 2.7%, to 1,773.21.
The procession of disheartening economic numbers continued as the Commerce Department reported that factory orders tumbled 2.5% in the third quarter, far more than the expected 0.7% decline.
Shares of MasterCard's profit jumped more than 12% thanks partly to the credit card company's strong overseas results.
