By Kate Gibson
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday, as
investors waited for results of midterm elections expected to yield
Republican gains in Congress and for the Federal Reserve to deliver
more easing measures at the end of its two-day meeting.
"We should have a clearer picture tomorrow morning of the
political leadership of the House and the Senate, thus allowing
those bodies to consider tax reform and a couple of other important
issues during its lame- duck session and ahead of year-end," wrote
Fred Dickson, chief investment strategist at Davidson Cos.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 64.10 points, or
0.6%, to end at 11,188.72.
Twenty-three of the Dow's 30 components pulled higher, with the
gains led by home-improvement retailer Home Depot Inc. (HD), shares
of which were up 2.6%.
The S&P 500 Index (SPX) gained 9.19 points, or 0.8%, to end
at 1,193.57, with utilities and energy the best performers among
its 10 industry groups.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude futures gained $1.15
to end at $83.90 barrel, the highest settlement in nearly six
months, with the dollar-denominated commodity rising as the
greenback weakened. The dollar index (DXY) tumbled about 0.7% to
76.723.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose 28.68 points, or 1.1%, to
end at 2,533.52.
Stocks largely have tread water in recent days amid uncertainty
over the outcome of midterm elections, and over the scope of a
second round of quantitative easing expected to be announced
Wednesday by the Fed.
Most analysts expect the GOP to take control of the U.S. House
of Representatives and Democrats to retain control of the Senate,
although without the supermajority needed to bypass
filibusters.
The Fed on Wednesday is expected to announce another round of
large-scale bond purchases to push down interest rates and spur
borrowing and spending. The idea of higher inflation down the road
has been a weight on the dollar for multiple months.
Wall Street is looking for a program of roughly $100 billion in
monthly purchases to be conducted over the course of at least six
months.
"It's hard to know what could upset the apple cart this week --
the Senate being close is one thing and the other is the magnitude
of quantitative easing," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at
Jefferies & Co.
Tuesday also brought revived M&A activity in technology,
with Oracle Corp. (ORCL) saying it would pay $1 billion to acquire
Art Technology Group Inc. (ARTG), which makes software used in
online transactions.
The ongoing M&A trend among tech companies makes sense,
given "as a sector, tech has more cash on the balance sheet than
any other," added Hogan.
In a similar vein, Dell Inc. (DELL) said it would acquire
cloud-computing services company Boomi, although the
personal-computer maker did not disclose terms of the deal.
For every stock falling, nearly three gained on the New York
Stock Exchange, where 914 million shares traded.