Stocks Conquer Election Angst

Among analyst moves, JPMorgan Chase upgraded Whole Foods Market (WFMI Quote) to overweight from neutral, boosting shares by 3.3% to $49.04. Through the previous five sessions, shares of Whole Foods had dropped 25.6% amid worries about its growth prospects.

Wachovia downgraded homebuilder Toll Brothers (TOL Quote) to market perform from outperform, and Lehman Brothers cut Pulte Homes (PHM Quote) to equal-weight from overweight. Toll Brothers slumped by 1.9% to $27.50, and Pulte fell by 3.4% to close at $28.94.

Away from equities, the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was up 7/32 in price to yield 4.63%. The dollar was slumping against the world's other major currencies. Gold futures were down $9.40 to close at $618.30.

Elsewhere, the Energy Department released its latest data on weekly crude inventories. Oil stocks were up by 400,000 barrels. Gasoline stores were down by 600,000 barrels and distillate inventories dropped by 2.7 million barrels. Following the number, crude futures closed up 90 cents at $59.83 a barrel, nearly reversing the entire decline from the prior day.

Overseas, European markets were lower. London's FTSE 100 was down 0.1% to 6239, and Frankfurt's Xetra DAX was off 0.2% to 6349. Asia's markets also showed weakness. The Nikkei dropped 1.1% at 16,216, and the Hang Seng fell 0.7% to 18,811.

On Thursday, earnings reports are expected from Disney (DIS Quote), JCPenney (JCP Quote), Kohl's (KSS Quote), Nvidia (NVDA Quote) and Viacom (VIA Quote).