By Elizabeth Stanton Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks advanced in an Election Day rally after MasterCard Inc. reported better-than-estimated earnings and money-market rates retreated. MasterCard, the world's second-biggest credit-card company, jumped 11 percent on profit that was boosted by higher overseas revenue. Citigroup Inc., the second-biggest U.S. bank, added 3 percent as interbank lending rates declined. General Electric Co. and CIT Group Inc. climbed on a Wall Street Journal report that the U.S. Treasury may include financial companies beyond banks and insurers in its $700 billion rescue. Gains in Europe and Asia sent the MSCI World Index to a sixth straight advance. ``Investors are looking forward to the campaigns being over and moving on with the results,'' James Dunigan, managing executive of investments at PNC Wealth Management in Philadelphia, which oversees $63 billion, told Bloomberg Television. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 19.34 points, or 2 percent, to 985.64 at 9:34 a.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 171.32 points, or 1.8 percent, to 9,491.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 26.76, or 1.6 percent, to 1,753.09. Eight stocks rose for each that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. U.S. stocks fell yesterday, after drifting between gains and losses before the election, on the worst contraction in manufacturing since 1982 and forecasts that the sagging economy will curb profits. The winner between Democrat Barack Obama, who leads in national polls, and Republican John McCain must contend with an economy crippled by declining corporate profits and the highest unemployment in five years. `Big Change' ``The worst is behind us in terms of the financial crisis,'' said Chloe Magnier, an equity strategist at Saxo Banque in Paris. ``Obama is the candidate markets are expecting. He represents a big change for the U.S.,'' she told Bloomberg Television. The S&P 500 has dropped farther and faster than any time since the administration of Gerald Ford, losing 38 percent from an all-time high last year. Concern economic growth is slowing sent the S&P 500 down 17 percent in October, the steepest monthly loss since 1987. The 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. `Looking to Add' ``There has been some discussion about a post-election rally,'' JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategist Thomas Lee wrote in a note to clients. ``We have had more than one conversation with investors about what `we will be looking to add' after the elections.'' To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Stanton in New York at estanton@bloomberg.net.

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