NEW YORK: Stocks posted gains Monday as Americans prepared to vote today in the presidential election.
Apple Inc. rose 1 percent as it sold 3 million units of its iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad during the debut weekend, saying demand for the smaller version of its tablet outstripped supply.
KBW Inc. added 7.2 percent as Stifel Financial Corp. agreed to buy the boutique investment bank in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at $575 million.
Time Warner Cable Inc. declined 6.4 percent amid disappointing earnings.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 19.28 points, or 0.2 percent, to 13,112.44. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 3.06 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,417.26. The Nasdaq composite index rose 17.53 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,999.66.
For the year: The Dow is up 894.88 points, or 7.3 percent; the S&P is up 159.66 points, or 12.7 percent, and the Nasdaq is up 394.51, or 15.1 percent.
The Dow has gained or lost 0.54 percent a day on average this year, the smallest fluctuations for an election year since George W. Bush defeated John Kerry in 2004, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Daily changes have trailed the 112-year average of 0.75 percent in 13 of 17 instances when incumbents won, compared with six of 11 times the parties lost.
While volatility doesn’t predict winners, its decline shows less concern that prices will be whipsawed by economic news, a potential benefit for Obama. At the same time, the Dow’s 65 percent rally since he took office never pushed it above the record 14,164.53 reached in October 2007. No Democrat since World War II has held on to the White House with the Dow this far from its peak.