Stocks Conquer Election Angst

Updated from 4:08 p.m. EST

Wall Street overcame morning selling pressure and closed to the upside Wednesday as traders shook off fears about the power shift in Congress.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to another all-time high, gaining 19.77 points, or 0.16%, to 12,176.54, after falling as many as 53 points earlier. The index, which beat the previous record close set on Oct. 26, was supported by gains of 1.3% in Altria(MO Quote) and Exxon Mobil(XOM Quote).

As for the other indices, the S&P 500 was up 2.88 points, or 0.21%, at 1385.72, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 9.06 points, or 0.38%, to 2384.94.

"The reversal is pretty impressive," said Jay Suskind, head of institutional equity trading with Ryan Beck & Co. "With the sense that maybe all that much won't change, the market has an optimistic viewpoint for the next few months. We've now had a good couple of days, but we need some more guidance from the political standpoint."

About 2.88 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, and advancers beat decliners by a 5-to-3 margin. Volume on the Nasdaq was roughly 2.12 billion shares, with winners outpacing losers 3 to 2.

The market initially saw weakness a day after Democrats easily won control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 12 years, picking up at least 26 seats against Republicans in Tuesday's midterm elections. Only 15 were needed for the Democrats to take a 218-seat majority.

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