Nasdaq, S&P 500 post-election gains best ever despite chaos

Stocks closed higher despite giving back a bulk of earlier gains after Fox News projected Biden has won Wisconsin. Investors are also waiting on final tallies for the Senate after the Democrats maintained control of the House.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained over 300 points or 1.3%, after rising over 700 points earlier, while the S&P 500 was up 2.2%, its best post-election day ever.

Health insurance stocks, including Dow member United Health, rallied in a broad advance.

The Nasdaq Composite rose over 3.8%, also the best post-election day performance ever.

Large-cap tech companies, such as Facebook, Apple, Alphabet, Twitter and Amazon, may be benefiting from the failure of a Democratic sweep in the House and Senate, which could have prompted tougher regulatory actions, say, investors.

On the economic front, investors shrugged off the ADP employment change for October, which showed a reading of 365,000 jobs added, missing expectations of 650,000 by a wide margin. Weekly jobless claims are due tomorrow followed by Friday's employment report for October.

Energy is also in focus as West Texas Intermediate crude oil firmed up, gaining nearly 3.5% nearing $39 per barrel.

Integrated oil companies such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Conoco Phillips ended mixed.

Ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft each rallied more than 10% after Proposition 22 was reversed in California allowing these companies to classify drivers as independent contractors, reducing potential costs.

UBER, LIFT WIN IN CALIFORNIA

FOLLOW: REAL-TIME ELECTION RESULTS

As for the election tally, the odds of a contested election are growing more likely.

The Fox News Decision Desk projects victories for Democratic nominee Joe Biden in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, one of Nebraska's electoral votes, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia. The former vice president has secured 238 electoral votes.

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Meanwhile, President Trump is expected to win Kentucky; West Virginia; Alabama; Mississippi; Tennessee; Missouri; Arkansas; Indiana; Kansas; Louisiana; Oklahoma; Wyoming; North Dakota; South Dakota; South Carolina; Utah; Idaho; Florida; Ohio; Texas; Iowa; Montana; and at least four of Nebraska's five electoral votes. That represents a total of 213 electoral votes.

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At least 270 electoral votes are needed to be declared the winner.

Amid the election uncertainty, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon told his employees via email to “respect the democratic process, and ultimately, the outcome,” urging ”faith,” “patience” and “fortitude.”

ECONOMIC BARRAGE

ISM's Non-Manufacturing index showed continued growth, with a reading of 56.6, though lower the consensus forecast of 57.3 and down slightly from the prior reading of 57.8.

EARNINGS SEASON CONTINUES 

After a brief respite for the presidential election, earnings season is set to resume, with investors hearing from a number of tech companies.

Hotel operator Hilton Worldwide, Eversource Energy and biotech Genmab released their quarterly results prior to the market open, with all three names rising at least 1%.

After the close of trading, investors will get their latest looks at earnings from semiconductor companies Qualcomm and Qorvo, dating app owner Match Group and insurance companies MetLife and Allstate.

Mobile gaming company Zynga, hosting company GoDaddy, and travel services company Expedia Group also report.

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In other commodities, gold fell to $1,803 an ounce.

COVID-19 Latest 

As the election hangs in the balance, the world is grappling with the worst pandemic in more than a century.

On Monday, the U.S. reported more than 84,000 COVID-19 cases, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. More than 9.3 million Americans have now contracted the virus, resulting in over 232,000 deaths.

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Fox News' Tyler Olson contributed to this story.