By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, with the Dow advancing to a record after the Republican Party took control of the Senate in the midterm elections, as expected, and following a stronger-than-anticipated report on the labor market.
Some weak earnings in the tech sector capped gains in the Nasdaq. But the beaten-down energy sector rallied on hopes that a Republican majority could lead to new legislation that includes approval of oil and gas pipelines and reforms of crude and natural gas export laws.
Energy shares had slumped recently, suffering massive losses as crude oil prices plunged to a three-year low. The S&P energy index was the only one of ten primary S&P 500 sectors finishing negative for the year, though it rose 1.5 percent as the strongest group of the day.
Equities rose on relief that election results were clear as Republicans sweeped several close contests to win control of the Senate. Investors had been concerned that several close races would be forced into run-offs, which could have meant weeks of delay in knowing the vote's outcome.
"It had looked like some of the races would be very close and that we might not know who controlled the Senate, but in the end the results were pretty decisive," said John Carey, portfolio manager at Pioneer Investment Management in Boston. "That's good news for the industries that had been subject to regulatory issues."
U.S. private employers added 230,000 jobs in October, more than expected and the most since June, according to the ADP National Employment report. The data could raise hopes for Friday's closely-watched payroll report.
On the downside, the pace of growth in the U.S. services sector slowed more than expected in October, sliding for a second month to its lowest level since June, according to the Institute for Supply Management's services index.
Time Warner Inc rose 3.3 percent to $77.47 after it reported revenue growth of 3 percent. Activision Blizzard Inc late Tuesday raised its full-year forecast, sending shares up 2.7 percent to $20.48.
Limiting the Nasdaq's advance, TripAdvisor Inc dropped 14.1 percent to $71.95 and was the S&P's biggest decliner a day after posting weaker-than-expected earnings. FireEye Inc fell 13.9 percent to $29.51 a day after the cybersecurity company's revenue outlook was largely below expectations.
At 1:12 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average rose 97.55 points, or 0.56 percent, to 17,481.39, the S&P 500 gained 10.51 points, or 0.52 percent, to 2,022.61 and the Nasdaq Composite added 7.46 points, or 0.16 percent, to 4,631.10.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 1,742 to 1,228, for a 1.42-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the Nasdaq, 1,503 issues rose and 1,125 fell for a 1.34-to-1 ratio favoring advancers. The benchmark S&P 500 index was posting 84 new 52-week highs and 5 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 98 new highs and 44 new lows.
(Editing by Bernadette Baum)
