Wall Street ended the trading day with solid gains Wednesday and the Canadian dollar climbed more than a cent as election night uncertainty gave way to the certainty of a Bush victory.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 101.32 points or 1.01% to close at 10,137.05. The Dow pulled back from earlier highs after oil prices moved higher. Drug company and defence stocks enjoyed the biggest gains.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index was up 19.50 points or 0.98% to 2004.30 — its first close above 2000 since early July. The broader S&P 500 rose 12.62 points or 1.12% to 1,143.20.

Canadian stocks shed their early gains. The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 28.63 points or 0.33% at 8,842.31 after touching an almost four-year high earlier in the day.

The energy, gold, and health care sectors were the leading gainers. But the information technology group fell 3.8%.

Research in Motion shares dropped almost $13 to $102.14 as UBS downgraded the stock to “neutral.”

In the financial group, Kingsway Financial shares surged $1.45, or 8.92%, to $17.70 after the insurance company reported it almost doubled its third-quarter profit.

Canaccord Capital Inc. gained 2.29% after it announced a 29% drop in second-quarter net income.

Industrial Alliance shares climbed 2.02% after the firm announced better than expected third quarter earnings.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index rose 6.32 points or 0.40% to close at 1,604.56.

The Canadian dollar gained 1.03¢ to a new 12-year high of US82.71¢.

The U.S. dollar also lost ground against the yen, the euro, and the pound.

Gold futures gained $4.60 to US$424.60 an ounce.

Crude oil prices jumped $1.26 to US$50.88 a barrel.

Meanwhile, investment strategists wondered whether stocks can break out of their current trading range and start a new “bull market.”

A historical perspective of the market’s performance on the first day of trading following a presidential election offers a mixed picture. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has ended higher on the session after only two of the past six presidential races, according to data compiled by Dow Jones Indexes and Wilshire Associates.

Once the election dust has settled however, the Dow’s performance takes a turn for the better. A month later, the benchmark index was posting gains after four of the last six presidential elections.