Stocks Follow Election With Selloff

Meanwhile, solar panel maker SunPower (SPWRA Quote) reduced its fourth-quarter and 2009 earnings figures, saying a strengthening dollar vs. the euro would hurt its results.

Among financial firms, GMAC, jointly owned by Cerberus Capital and General Motors (GM Quote), reported a widened third-quarter loss due to setbacks in its mortgage business.

As for commodities, crude oil was losing $5.25 to $65.28 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration reported that crude-oil inventories for last week were unchanged, whereas economists were looking for an increase of 1.1 million barrels.

Gold shed $14.90 to settle at $742.40 an ounce.

Longer-dated U.S. Treasury securities were rising in price. The 10-year was up 10/32, yielding 3.69%, and the 30-year was gaining 22/32 to yield 4.15%. The dollar was falling vs. its major foreign competitors.

Credit markets were relaxing. Three-month dollar Libor, a measure of the rate banks charge one another for large loans, declined 20 basis points to 2.51%. Overnight Libor fell 6 basis points to 0.32%.

Overseas, European exchanges, including the FTSE in London and the DAX in Frankfurt, were mostly trading lower. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed on the upside.