US stocks advanced on Wednesday as a jump in technology stocks and news that US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld will step down offset jitters about US election results.
Boosting tech stocks was news from Microsoft Corp that it set the date for the sale of its new operating system. Microsoft, whose shares gained 0.4 percent to $29.07 on Nasdaq, said the next version of its Windows operating system, called Vista, will be available to retail customers on January 30.
Shares of energy companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp, rose as crude oil ended up 90 cents at $59.83 a barrel. Exxon Mobil provided the biggest lift to the Dow and S&P 500 index. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 28.34 points, or 0.23 percent, at 12,185.11. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 4.74 points, or 0.34 percent, at 1,387.58. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 15.34 points, or 0.65 percent, at 2,391.22.
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