Stocks rose yesterday as gains by Democrats in Tuesday's elections increased hope that the impeachment process against President Clinton will lose momentum and enable him to focus on the US economy and global financial crisis.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 76.99 points - or by 0.9 per cent - to 8,783.14, regaining ground that was lost in a bout of late afternoon selling that trimmed earlier gains to about 25 points.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 35.28 to 1,823.31, and the Standard and Poor's 500 rose 7.83 to 1,118.67.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a two-to-one margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 2,069 up, 1,015 down and 464 unchanged.