TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Weak Economic Data Doesn't Slow Market

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: November 5, 2008

NEW YORK - Investors believing that Wall Street is on the verge of a year-end rally piled into the market Tuesday, brushing off more weak economic data while they scarfed up stocks and propelled the Dow Jones industrials up 300 points to its highest close in four weeks.

It was the biggest Election Day rally for the Dow, topping the 1.2 percent gain seen in 1984 when Ronald Reagan defeated Walter Mondale. Prior to 1980, the market was closed on Election Day.

Some analysts said the market rose on relief that the presidential election was about to be over. But others said investors were anticipating a year-end recovery from Wall Street's huge sell-off and were buying to be sure they didn't miss out.

"I seriously doubt it has much to do with the election, other than we're all looking forward to it being over," said independent investment strategist Edward Yardeni.

The fact that Wall Street is in the final stretch of a tough year is probably lifting stocks more than the elections, he said. "It's almost been a classic textbook crash in September and October followed by a year-end rally."

Steven Goldman, chief market strategist at Weeden & Co., said, "historically, we were at the most oversold levels since October 1974," said pointing to price-to-earnings ratios.

The Dow rose 305.45, or 3.28 percent, to 9,625.28. The Dow last closed above 9,500 on Oct. 6, when it finished at 9,955.50.

The broader indexes also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 39.45, or 4.08 percent, to 1,005.75. The Nasdaq composite index rose 53.79, or 3.12 percent, to 1,780.12, its sixth straight advance and its longest winning streak of the year.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 7.47, or 1.39 percent, to 545.97.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 4 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to a light 1.3 billion shares.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT