Energy leads Wall St up after midterm vote; Dow hits record

By Yasmeen Abutaleb

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, with the Dow advancing to a record, after the Republican Party took control of the Senate in the midterm elections and a report on the labor market was stronger than anticipated.

Some weak earnings in the tech sector capped gains in the Nasdaq. But the beaten-down energy sector rallied on hopes that a Republican majority could pass legislation that includes approval of oil and gas pipelines and reforms of crude and natural gas export laws.

The S&P energy index was up 1.5 percent as the strongest group of the day.

"It had looked like some of the races would be very close and that we might not know who controlled the Senate, but in the end the results were pretty decisive," said John Carey, portfolio manager at Pioneer Investment Management in Boston. "That's good news for the industries that had been subject to regulatory issues."

U.S. private employers added 230,000 jobs in October, more than expected and the most since June, according to the ADP National Employment report. The data could raise hopes for Friday's closely-watched payroll report. On the downside, the pace of growth in the U.S. services sector slowed more than expected in October.

Time Warner Inc rose 2.9 percent to $77.15 after it reported revenue growth of 3 percent. Activision Blizzard Inc late Tuesday raised its full-year forecast, sending shares up 2.9 percent to $20.52.

At 2:23 p.m. the Dow Jones industrial average rose 74.43 points, or 0.43 percent, to 17,458.27, the S&P 500 gained 8.55 points, or 0.42 percent, to 2,020.65 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 7.11 points, or 0.15 percent, to 4,616.52.

Weighing on the Nasdaq, TripAdvisor Inc dropped 14.4 percent to $71.71, the S&P's biggest decliner, a day after posting weaker-than-expected earnings. FireEye Inc fell 15.7 percent to $28.85 a day after the cybersecurity company's revenue outlook was largely below expectations.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 1,691 to 1,316, for a 1.28-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the Nasdaq, 1,359 issues rose and 1,297 fell for a 1.05-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 was posting 89 new 52-week highs and 5 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 101 new highs and 49 new lows.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum and Nick Zieminski)