The U.S. stock market closed its final day of trading before the presidential election with a strong surge.
One day after FBI Director James Comey told Congress his agency was sticking with its opinion that Hillary Clinton should not face criminal charges related to her private email server, the Dow Jones industrial average jumped 371 points, its strongest day since March.
{mosads}The Standard & Poor’s 500 index and Nasdaq both also posted strong gains, each climbing over 2 percent in Monday’s trading.
The upward movement in trading marked a complete turnaround from the previous several days. Following Comey’s letter to Congress 10 days earlier, in which he announced the FBI discovered additional emails that may have been relevant to the Clinton investigation, U.S. stock markets had steadily marched downward. That drop coincided with polls showing the presidential race tightening.
Monday’s rally came after Comey told Congress on Sunday that his agency had completed its new review and would not be changing its conclusions. In July, Comey had said that while Clinton’s use of a private email system while secretary of State was irresponsible, no reasonable prosecutor would bring a case against her.
The FBI reportedly found the additional emails during its investigation into illicit texts allegedly sent by Anthony Weiner to an underage girl. Weiner, a former Democratic congressman and candidate for New York City mayor, is the estranged husband of Huma Abedin, one of Clinton’s closest aides. Weiner and Abedin have since separated.