By Elizabeth Stanton Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks rose for a third day as a decline in money market rates overshadowed analysts' predictions that the weakening economy will hurt profits. American International Group Inc. jumped more than 5 percent and Fifth Third Bancorp advanced 3.4 percent after the cost of borrowing in dollars in London slid to the lowest level since the failure of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. on Sept. 15. General Motors Corp., AT&T and Alcoa Inc. climbed at least 1.7 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 3.65, or 0.4 percent, to 972.4 as of 9:42 a.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 31.94, or 0.3 percent, to 9,356.95. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 8.96, or 0.5 percent, 1,729.91. Almost two stocks rose for each that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. The S&P 500 extended its longest streak of gains in more than a month as the drop in borrowing costs outweighed concern that the slowing economy will hurt profits. S&P 500 companies may earn a combined $61 a share this year and $69 next year, more than 20 percent below the ``bottom-up'' consensus projection from stock analysts, according to Deutsche Bank AG's strategist Binky Chadha. The S&P 500 sank 17 percent last month and closed at a five-year low on Oct. 27. The October sell-off erased more than $9.5 trillion from the value of stocks worldwide, almost one- third of the total value wiped out this year, as credit-related losses and writedowns by financial firms approached $700 billion. ISM Manufacturing The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index may have dropped to 41 last month from 43.5 in September, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. The report is due for release at 10 a.m. New York time. Polls show Democrat Barack Obama ahead of Republican John McCain as the economy looms as the main concern among voters. Obama, 47, widened his lead to 8 percentage points over McCain, 72, in an average of polls released in the last week, according to RealClearPolitics.com. Election history indicates that U.S. stocks may have a better chance in the first year of an Obama presidency than a McCain administration. Since 1900, the Dow average rose 9.8 percent in the 12 months after the Democratic Party captured the White House, based on the median change following the election of seven Democrats from Woodrow Wilson to Bill Clinton. Only twice did the index drop, after Wilson's victory in 1912 and Jimmy Carter's in 1976. To contact the reporters on this story: Elizabeth Stanton in New York at estanton@bloomberg.net.

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