* Stocks boosted by bargain-hunting as rates ease
* MasterCard rises after better-than-expected results
* GE climbs after Wall Street Journal report
* Dow up 1.8 pct, S&P up 1.9 pct, Nasdaq up 1.6 pct
(adds indexes)
(Updates to early morning)
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK, Nov 4 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed on Tuesday
as Americans began voting in the race for the White House,
while investors picked up shares trading around five-year lows
amid further signs of easing in credit markets.
MasterCard Inc <MA.N>, the world's second-largest card
network, rose more than 10 percent after the company reported
better-than-expected earnings late on Monday. Dow component
American Express <AXP.N> gained 5 percent.
Economic bellwether General Electric <GE.N> was the biggest
boost on the Dow, rising 7 percent after the Wall Street
Journal reported the Treasury Department is considering using
more of its $700 billion rescue package to buy stakes in a wide
range of financial companies, such as GE's GE Capital unit.
The interest rates banks charge each other for short term
loans also fell again, providing further hope that measures to
shore up the credit markets are taking hold.
But the presidential election was first and foremost on
investors' minds, with market watchers noting there was some
relief that the final outcome was within reach.
"I think the election is overriding everything," said
Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of trading at Themis Trading in
Chatham, New Jersey.
"There's people thinking once the election is over, one of
the unknowns of the market will be taken out - the market hates
uncertainty."
The Dow Jones industrial average <> rose 168.06 points,
or 1.80 percent, to 9,487.89. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> gained 17.88 points, or 1.85 percent, to 984.18. The
Nasdaq Composite Index <> pushed up 27.79 points, or 1.61
percent, at 1,754.12.
GE gained 6.9 percent to $20.63. A spokesman for the
company said that an investment from Treasury was not something
GE expected, and an investment would be evaluated if it was
offered.
CIT Group <CIT.N>, which was also mentioned in the Wall
Street Journal's report, shot up 29 percent at $5.83.
MasterCard was up 10.6 percent at $159.11, while American
Express rose 5.1 percent to $29.75.
Archer Daniels Midland Co <ADM.N> jumped 4.2 percent to
$3.76 after it posted a sharply higher profit, helped in part
by higher selling prices.
On the Nasdaq, Microsoft <MSFT.O> was among the biggest
boosters, rising 2.3 percent to $23.13.
In economic news, data showed that new orders received by
U.S. factories took a surprisingly steep tumble for a second
month in a row during September, but the markets largely
shrugged off the data.
"Even though they were worse than anticipated, the market
didn't seem to budge off of it, which is a good thing when it
stops going down on bad news," said Saluzzi.
Also helping sentiment, Australia's central bank cut
interest rates by a bigger-than-expected 3/4 point raising
hopes of further global efforts to ease an economic slowdown.
Central banks in the euro zone and the Bank of England meet
later in the week and could add to global attempts to lower the
cost of borrowing.
