05:11 PM EST, 11/05/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes closed higher Tuesday as traders awaited the results of the presidential election.

The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.4% to 18,439.2, while the S&P 500 rose 1.2% to 5,782.8. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1% to 42,221.9. All sectors saw gains, led by consumer discretionary and industrials.

Voters in the US headed to polling stations to pick the country's next president, with Democratic Party nominee and US Vice President Kamala Harris competing with Republican Party nominee and former President Donald Trump.

Wall Street will be watching key swing states, with the market likely to wobble through uncertainty until a clear result is known, according to analysts. It could take several days before the outcome of the vote is known, analysts said.

"The US presidential election likely will be decided by a few thousand voters across a handful of swing states," Wells Fargo Investment Institute said.

The US two-year yield increased 1.5 basis points to 4.19%, while the 10-year rate lost three basis points to 4.28%.

In economic news, the US services sector saw continued expansion in October, with Institute for Supply Management data showing a faster growth rate sequentially, while S&P Global ( SPGI ) indicated a slight deceleration.

"With measures of new orders and business activity still at healthy levels, the backbone of consumer spending is likely to remain a sturdy contributor to growth in the fourth quarter and into next year," TD Economics said.

On Friday, data from the ISM and S&P Global ( SPGI ) showed the US manufacturing sector remained in contraction territory last month amid output weakness.

The US trade deficit jumped in September as goods imports climbed, while exports of both goods and services dropped, according to government data released Tuesday.

"The outcome of the election could add upside risk to imports if importers pre-empt potential tariff increases in the event of a Trump presidency," Oxford Economics said.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 1% to $72.18 a barrel Tuesday.

In company news, Palantir Technologies ( PLTR ) shares surged nearly 24%, the best performer on the S&P 500. Late Monday, the software maker posted stronger-than-expected third-quarter results and raised its full-year outlook amid surging artificial intelligence demand.

GlobalFoundries ( GFS ) was the top gainer on the Nasdaq Tuesday, up 15%, after it delivered a third-quarter beat.

Celanese (CE) shares plunged 26%, the worst performer on the S&P 500, following a third-quarter miss late Monday.

NXP Semiconductors ( NXPI ) shares fell 5.2% Tuesday, among the steepest decliners on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Late Monday, the company reported third-quarter results that fell from a year earlier, while its fourth-quarter outlook lagged the Street's projections.

Gold rose 0.3% to $2,753.70 per troy ounce, while silver gained 0.6% to $32.79 per ounce.