North American markets rallied hard on Tuesday as investors in Canada and the United States bid up stocks ahead of the results of the U.S. election.

In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index jumped 395.32 points, or 4.07%, to end at 10,116.58.

The energy sub-index was up almost 6% as the price of oil shot up US$6.62 to settle at US$70.53.

Suncor Energy Inc. rose 6.1%, Talisman Energy Inc. rose 8.4% and EnCana Corp. rose 3.9%.

Gold rose to US$757.30 an ounce, up US$30.50.

Among materials stocks, Teck Cominco Ltd. rose 12.5%, Goldcorp Inc. rose 13.8% and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. rose 7.5%.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index jumped 39.68 points, or 4.24%, to end at 975.27.

The Canadian dollar was also higher on Tuesday. The loonie gained more than 2¢ to reach 8US6.87¢ at the close of the trading day.

In New York, U.S. stocks rose in the biggest election day rally ever.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 305.45 points, or 3.28%, to 9,625.28. The S&P 500 jumped 39.45 points, or 4.08%, to 1,005.75. The Nasdaq composite index gained 53.79 points, or 3.12%, to 1,780.12.

For the Dow, it was the ighest close since Oct. 6, while the S&P 500 closed above the 1,000 mark for the first time since Oct. 13.

IE