U.S. Markets Rally On Election Day

November 4, 2008 5:06 p.m. EST

New York, NY (AHN) - U.S. markets shook off poor economic data on Tuesday, finishing higher as investors are looking forward to the presidential uncertainty coming to a close.

The Dow Jones Industrial average rose 305 points or 3.3 percent. 29 of 30 Dow components finished the session higher. Hewlett Packard, down 0.9 percent was the only laggard.

The S&P 500 added 39 points or 4.1 percent. All ten economic sectors rose on Tuesday. Energy was the strongest, up 6.4 percent followed by telecom, up 5.2 percent.

The energy sector benefited from a surge in crude oil prices. The commodity jumped $6.62 a barrel to $70.53 on news Saudi Arabia reduced its exports.

Tech rallied as well with the Nasdaq Composite rising 54 points or 3.1 percent. Big-cap tech stocks were strong as the Nasdaq 100 rose 3.3 percent.

On the economic front, factory orders fell in September 2.5 percent from a month ago. The result was worse than the 0.8 percent decline economists had expected.

As for corporate news, MasterCard, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) and Archer Daniels all reported quarterly earnings that topped analyst estimates.

Shares of General Electric jumped 7.6 percent after news surfaced the U.S. Treasury is considering investing in a broad range of financial companies. GE's capital unit was named as a potential investment.

Wednesday's session will see weekly crude oil inventories data and ADP employment numbers. It will also mark the first trading day where investors know who the 44th President will be.