US stocks post best Election Day rally since 2008

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US stocks rallied Tuesday to post their highest daily increase on Election Day since 2008 with strong optimism from investors.

The Dow Jones soared 554 points to 27,480 and the S&P 500 was up 58 to close at 3,369.

The Nasdaq jumped 202 to finish Election Day at 11,160 with Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Google's parent company, Alphabet, all gaining more than 1% each. Twitter and Tesla each skyrocketed 5%.

The rally came with investors optimism as they expect early results from approximately 65 million mail-in ballots from Americans that would provide an uncontested winner in the race between Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic Joe Biden.

With a record 35 million in-person early voting and 65 million ballots cast by mail due to the coronavirus, more than 100 million Americans voted early this year, while more than 50 million are expected to cast ballots in person on Election Day.

If election results would be delayed and contested, however, the stock market could plummet in coming days because of uncertainty and the risk of legal challenges from both sides.