Bush's re-election pushes U.S. stocks higher
The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 101.32 points, up 1.01 percent, at 10,137.05. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 1.12 percent to 1,143.20, while the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.98 percent, to finish at 2,004.33. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at their highest level in over four months.
Pharmaceutical shares rose as investors assumed no heavy regulation of drug prices or moves to import cheaper drugs will be made. Pfizer Inc.'s stocks went up 72 cents to $29.45, lifting the S&P 500 Index. Bristol-Myers Squibb climbed 58 cents to $23.76 and Merck went up 1.07 cents ending at $27.87. As Bush is seen as more pro-business than Kerry his re-election also helped defense shares. Stocks of Boeing gained $1.27, up 2.6 percent, to $51.15, Raytheon was up 79 cents to $37.55 and Lockheed Martin added 1.78 cents to $55.89. Election results provoked a rally in oil shares. ExxonMobil rose 87 cents to $49.27, ChevronTexaco jumped 1.07 cents to $53.17. Halliburton, the oil services company facing a number of problems over its Iraq contracts, rallied 1.54 cents to $37.08-the higest level in over three years.
Pharmaceutical shares rose as investors assumed no heavy regulation of drug prices or moves to import cheaper drugs will be made. Pfizer Inc.'s stocks went up 72 cents to $29.45, lifting the S&P 500 Index. Bristol-Myers Squibb climbed 58 cents to $23.76 and Merck went up 1.07 cents ending at $27.87. As Bush is seen as more pro-business than Kerry his re-election also helped defense shares. Stocks of Boeing gained $1.27, up 2.6 percent, to $51.15, Raytheon was up 79 cents to $37.55 and Lockheed Martin added 1.78 cents to $55.89. Election results provoked a rally in oil shares. ExxonMobil rose 87 cents to $49.27, ChevronTexaco jumped 1.07 cents to $53.17. Halliburton, the oil services company facing a number of problems over its Iraq contracts, rallied 1.54 cents to $37.08-the higest level in over three years.
